Giving Thanks to God

Here is a difficult question for you. What do English people talk about the most? I’m not sure anyone knows the answer to that, but maybe the ‘stereotype’ of the English obsession with the weather is correct! If so, then Psalm 147 (which is where we are up-to in our current series on the Psalms) should be a favourite for any of us here tonight who are British – because it has a lot to say about the weather! But whether we are British or not, it also says a lot about God.

So it would be good if you would turn with me to Psalm 147, which is on page 632 and it would be great if you keep that open in front of you so that you can follow through as we look at that tonight.


Introduction, WE ARE TO PRAISE GOD BECAUSE HE IS POWERFUL

The structure of psalm 147 is pretty simple really. The first three words give the game away: “Praise the Lord”. We are commanded to praise God. Praising God simply means ‘saying how great he is’ Let me remind you where it says that:-

Look at verse 1:

Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

And in verse 7:

Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp

And verse 12:

Extol [that means Praise] the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion

It is fairly easy to see that we are commanded to Praise God. No surprises there of course – we are reading a song from the Bible!

But don’t let that stop you seeing what is said here. Verse 1 again:-

“Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!”

You see we should praise God – that is the right thing to do and it is good to do it. It’s the appropriate thing to do – after all God really is great and it is fitting to praise Him. We sometimes talk of “music that fits a mood” or a “picture that fits a room” Well this psalm tells us that it is good and it is fitting to praise him!

Yesterday, 2 members of this church - Lou Thai Nurn and Xue Yang - got married here. Imagine if I had gone to the wedding and the party afterwards and enjoyed the wonderful Chinese food that was on offer, but completely ignored Lou and Xue. Would that have been good? Would that have been fitting? NO – of course not. It would have been wrong and in the same way we so easily enjoy the gifts that God has given us – our health, jobs, food, houses, families, even the weather – but completely ignore him. That would not be right at all. As Romans 1:21 says:-

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.

The right thing to do is to praise God.

But there is one thing that may be a bit of a surprise for you. Look again at verse 1:

Praise the LORD. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!

You see it is not just right to praise God – it is pleasant as well! I remember a few years ago, in a small group that I was a part of, one of the ladies in the small group asked us to pray for one of her friends who was not a Christian. We were praying that she would have an opportunity to tell her friend why God is so great. And we prayed and we prayed for months. And eventually God provided that opportunity. And as they were sending the day together, her friend said to her, “Katie, why are you a Christian?”. This is the moment she had been waiting for. All she could think to say was, “Umm… it’s fun”. That was it. Next time we met in our small group, she was in tears. She felt she had wasted the opportunity. What she didn’t know was that her friend had gone home that evening and become a Christian. You see, she had realised that it was her duty to praise God, it never occurred to her that it might be pleasant.

We are commanded here to praise God and reminded that it is good and that it is pleasant to do so. That is what we were made for.

But why? Why should we praise him? The wonderful thing is that we are never asked to praise God without being given a reason to do so and once again the reason is very, very simple:- God is powerful. As the children’s song says: ‘Our God is a great big God!”

Look at verses 4-5:

He determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.

Or verses 8-9:

He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills. He provides food for the cattle and for the young ravens when they call.

Or verses 15-18:

He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow.

The message that is right through the Psalm is that God controls the weather. He is a powerful God. He doesn’t just control the weather – he controls everything. And that is why we are to praise him.

We are to Praise God because he is powerful.

I had lunch with a friend of mine last week and as we were eating together I said to him “what happened to you. Why did you become a Christian?” He said, “Two years ago I was studying in Liverpool. I met some Christians who got to know me and they said to me ‘God is a powerful God’. I was an atheist. I grew up believing there wasn’t even a God, let alone that he was powerful. But they said to me ‘pray and you will see that there is a God and that he is powerful’. A couple of days later, he was in his room studying and outside his bedroom there was a large group of very noisy British students. He got to the end of his tether and he though I cannot stand this anymore so he said ‘Right, I will pray’. He closed his eyes and prayer, ‘God if you are there, within 2 minutes of me finishing this prayer, get rid of those British students”. He opened his eyes and within 2 minutes a cloud had come across, there was a thunderstorm and they ran away. He said he had goosebumps all the way up his arms – he realised you see that there is a God and that he is a powerful God.

And the psalmist wants us to see this. What he has done, and what he wants us to do, is to pause and to think about these truths. They are simple: praise him he is powerful. But as we mull over them, as we think about them, as we allow them to saturate into our lives we realise the implications of them. And we allow those implications to chance our lives.

He points out 3 implications for them (and for us too). If you are taking notes they are:

1.God keeps his promises2.God only delights in humility3.hear from him is the greatest privilege

All these things are implications of the fact that God is a powerful God.


First, GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES

Because God is powerful, we know he can keep his promises.

Look at verses 2 and 3:

The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel.He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.

A bit of background will help us here. In the OT and especially in Isaiah the Jewish people were warned again and again that if they kept living in rebellion against God, ignoring God, if they did not trust him then God would judge them by having their land occupied, and they would be taken away from Israel into “exile”, which means living away from your own country. That is exactly what happened to them.

But God also promised that he would end the exile. The Jewish people found both of these things hard to believe, but they did happen. God was powerful and he did what he said he would do – he brought them back from exile. This song was probably written after the exile, after they had come back – the song celebrates the event!

Look at verse 12:

Extol the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion, for he strengthens the bars of your gates and blesses your people within you. He grants peace to your borders and satisfies you with the finest of wheat.

God was powerful and he had kept his promises to them. If God can control the clouds, then what is a king or a kingdom to stand in his way? As they looked back on the event, they are being reminded to trust him for he is powerful and he keeps his promises.

So, what about us, now in Newcastle in 2006? We may feel very different to the Jewish person who wrote this psalm, but we are not. God bringing his people together in Jerusalem, the holy city is a picture in the rest of the Bible of the God people, the church, gathering together in heaven. That is what John wrote about in Revelation 21:1-4.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

That picture of God gathering his people, being with them, comforting them is exactly the picture we see in verses 2 and 3. The difference with them is that they had their holy city, but we are still waiting for ours. But the lesson is the same. He is powerful and he keeps his promises.

I don’t know if you have times where you doubt that? Where you find it hard to believe that is going to be the case. Where you feel so aware of your own sin or your own weakness and think I'll never keep going till he comes back. Remember: the strength is not in you – it is in God. He will do it!

Look again at verses 2 and 3:

The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.

It is a wonderful picture. A picture of a God who is looking for us and who will heal us. Though it is painful, a wound, like a broken arm, is easy to bind up. But a broken heart – that takes time, to be there, to love them, to wipe tears from their eyes. It is a wonderfully tender picture of a powerful God who non-the-less loves us, each one of us. What God has promised to do for us he will do if we trust in Jesus.

I don’t know what you are going through at the moment. Maybe you’re feeling depressed, doubting, tired; let down by God right now or wondering if continuing this life of faith is worth it.

In the middle of all that we are called to believe in and act on a promise about the future. A promise that God will come, either by our own death, or the return of Jesus - whichever is the sooner - and free us from our sin and from death, and the pressures of living in this world. And if we believe in Him and trust that he will do what he promises, that will effect every decision we make in life.

God is powerful and he can keep his promises.


Secondly, GOD ONLY DELIGHTS IN HUMILITY

The second implication the writer of the psalm reflects on is that because God is the most powerful God only humility will impress him. That makes sense doesn't it? One time I made the mistake of cooking a curry for an Indian friend. Well no matter how good I though my cooking was, it was rather embarrassing! It is like that but much greater with God. Our abilities may be high, but they don't please him. There is nothing he needs from us.

Look at verse 10:

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of a man

So what pleases him? Verse 11

the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

It is not our ability that pleases God, but our humility. He loves those who to trust him, who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

That is something that is quite hard for us to grasp. We have to keep struggling to understand it. Have you ever been in that situation where there is a whole group of you and you are being picked for a sports team? There can be that horrible feeling can’t there – am I going to be the last to be picked? Or at work, where there can be that fear that if I don’t perform well enough you will loose your job. Everything we do has this value: if you are good enough, you will get there. The fear is if we are not good enough, we're out. It is really hard to shake that attitude, but it is very different with God. It is completely different. It is not our ability that pleases God, but our humility.

Isn't that a wonderful truth! Some days I wake up, wanting to do great things for God! I feel strong. I feel I want to serve him with all of my being. There are other days when I just feel weak – that I have nothing to offer, useless, about to fall apart. Either because of sin, or by weakness.

Let me give you one example, though there are very many. This morning I was asked to speak at a local church. I got there in good time. I have a tendency to get lost, so I though I better leave a bit early. And lo and behold, I did get a little bit lost! I got there a minute after I was supposed to at 10:31am. It was a horrible nightmare. The car park was packed and the service had already started. I had obviously got the time mixed up – I though it started at 11am. It was a real nightmare. So I ran in, went to the front and sat down. I was supposed to be leading the service, but someone else was doing that so I just sat down and let them carry on. And I didn’t realise till the notice time that someone else was also prepared to speak and when they announced who was about to speak it suddenly dawned on me: I’m in the wrong church! Could not believe it – it was a horrible feeling. Had to dash across town and fortunately got there just in time. Welcome to Ramzi world! Don’t we all have moments like that – when we are very conscious of our weakness?

That is why this truth is so comforting. Far from God dropping me from his team, this psalm reminds me that a God as strong as God can use me even at those moments. That even then I can please him. That if I keep fearing him, trusting him, putting my hope in his unfailing love then I can please him. I am not about to be dropped from his team. It is not our ability that pleases God, but our humility. Isn’t that a relief!

What does it mean though for us to fear him, trust him, and put our hope in his unfailing love? Ultimately that means trusting in Jesus to deal with our sin. When we rely on Jesus and his death on the cross and his resurrection we are putting our hope in his unfailing love.

So as we look at our sins and our failures we need to remember what Jesus did for us on the cross. He died so that our punishment could be paid for. Sin may have spoiled our relationship with God. It cannot split it, because Jesus died to bring and to keep that relationship together forever. We can please God, but to do that we must come to Jesus for forgiveness and that takes humility.

As we come this evening to eat the bread and drink the wine to remember these things take time to thank God for the fact that we can please him through Christ. Not by our ability, but by our humility as we put our hope in his unfailing love.


Thirdly, TO HEAR FROM HIM IS THE GREATEST PRIVILEGE

Now we come to the climax of the psalm. Because God is the most powerful God to hear from his is the greatest privilege. Look at verses 15-20 again:

He sends his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls down his hail like pebbles. Who can withstand his icy blast? He sends his word and melts them; he stirs up his breezes, and the waters flow. He has revealed his word to Jacob, his laws and decrees to Israel. He has done this for no other nation; they do not know his laws. Praise the LORD.

Our God is a mighty God who has made himself known. It was the same word that rules the weather that reveals to the people of Israel the ruler of the weather. His word controls and it communicates. And it is amazing to hear from this God. The big question was: what will they do with this word? Will they let this word rule them? His word is awesome: it rules nature completely. Will they let it rule them completely too?

Because God is the most powerful God to hear from his is the greatest privilege.

And that word is the same word we have in our Bibles. What an honour you have to read his word. There are so many around the world that do not have it. There are so many around the world that cannot read a copy of it in their own language. That is why we support the work of a group called Wycliffe Bible Translators: their one aim is to offer the Bible in every language that needs it. Many of our mission partners at the church work are involved in this highly important work – how crucial it is to support them in this. You can read more about the work of Wycliffe and our mission partners in the displays at the back of church.

But we all have that word and how easy it is to forget that it is a great privilege. Maybe you feel a little daunted by it – confused and not sure where to start. Maybe we can help one another with that. That is just one reason why it is good to be a part of a small group to study Gods word together.

If I am honest sometimes I find it is also frightening. What might God say to me? Would I want to do that?

I found Psalm 147 a real help to me. As I remembered who was speaking to me and as I praised him, I found it was easier to obey his word.

We have in our hands a word from THE powerful one. It is a word to you and to me. In it we do find meaning, help, advice but much, much more than that we find HIM. Wow! Because God is the most powerful God to hear from his is the greatest privilege in the world and as we praise him, we will want to hear from him.

We will also want others to hear from him. God's word is for everyone. The question for those who wrote the psalm was this: are the other nations going to hear it from the one nation that has it? Will they try to keep God's word to themselves and in effect rob God of the praise of the nations around them?

We face similar questions: God has spoken to us through his son Jesus and we know that only those who trust in Jesus Christ will find security and prosperity in the 'new Jerusalem'. Are we making it known? Are we in danger of keeping God's word to ourselves? God's purposes are not stopped by our disobedience, but we do need to respond in obedience to his word.


Conclusion

The psalm ends as it began. “Praise the Lord”. Why? Because he is powerful. It is right to praise him, but it is also pleasant because of what that means. We've seen that means that

1.God keeps his promises2.God only delights in humility3.To hear from him is the greatest privilege

Heavenly Father, we do praise you. You are amazing. And Father as we have been reflecting on these words we pray that you will help us to understand them more and to live in the light of them. Father thank you that we can praise you. That we can know who you are. Thank you that it is not only right, it is also pleasant. And Father help us to understand the implications of that more and more each Day. And Father thank you that you have given us you word: that you have spoken to us. That you will keep your promised to us. And Father help us as a church to proclaim your praised among the nations. For you glory and in Jesus name we pray. Amen.