Give Thanks and Sing Praises to the God of Jacob

Berean Baptist on January 30, 2017

Psalm 75

In this week’s commentary on the Psalms, we return to the venerable Robert Hawker who had such a pleasant way of revealing Christ in his expositions. It is fitting for this Sunday’s reading that we should begin with the first verse of the 75th psalm which reads: “Unto thee, O God, do we give thanks, unto thee do we give thanks: for that thy name is near thy wondrous works declare.”

This verse follows upon the dire and desperate plea of Judah in Psalm 74. The 74th psalm was written soon after the destruction of the temple by the Babylonians. As we noticed last week, the most troubling aspect of the destruction was God’s refusal to come to their aid. There were many in Judah that thought the temple was indestructible which led them to flee there for what they thought was certain refuge. Their hopes were dashed because God would not stay the hand of chastisement due to Judah’s rejection of His prophets and their warnings of repentance. Israel was abandoned without a prophet (74:9) and their outlook was most dismal.

The end of the psalm saw increasing hope as they plead for God to arise and claim His people again (74:19-23). Thus we see the tone of Psalm 75 changes and thanks are given for God’s wonderful works. Notice particularly the change in speakers between verses 1 and 2. The first verse is the cry of the congregation. We might well compare this to the righteous in America that wonder if our cause is lost. Is it possible to save America from the inevitable destruction that looms (Ps. 9:17)? We have systematically destroyed the moral fiber of our people until the conscience is seared (1 Timothy 4:2).

In the second verse the speaker changes. Now, the one speaking is Christ who promises to restore just judgment. As Hawker notes, “Who but Christ supported the whole fabric of our nature, when sin had dissolved all its powers? Reader, is it not always blessed to look to Jesus?” Mark well the words of Robert Hawker. There is no hope for recovery in this country or any other except through Christ. Has it ever been any different? Was there any time we upheld ourselves? How could we when sin dissolved our powers? It is God that puts up one and takes down another (75:7). Left to ourselves, we would be as godless as the Communists of the Cold War. Government will never answer our problems. It is God that has always suppressed our forays into the worst of our depravity. Thus the psalmist speaks of the only righteous government—the government of Jesus Christ.

Today, we pause to give thanks that as Christians we live under the New Covenant. There has always been a covenant of grace, but never as fully understood as in this dispensation of the Christian church. We have the unequivocal promise of God’s favor. No matter what should happen, we are God’s people that shall never experience captivity again. We are citizens of His heavenly kingdom and have escaped the bondage of sin.

We gather to give thanks for temporal provision, but more importantly for the spiritual benefits of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. The righteous are always and only God’s people. Therefore, verse 10 says the horns of the righteous shall be exalted. What better reason to give thanks and sing praises to the God of Jacob?

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

 

Tough Love

Berean Baptist on March 31, 2016

Psalm 38

Have you ever been so sick and felt so miserable that you thought you might not recover? I think most of us have been there more than once and what we really want in those times is for someone to offer a little sympathy. Recovery is nice and we look forward to it, but when we are in our weakest moments we really desire for someone to care.

The 38th Psalm is an interesting study because if we did not know better we would think it was written by Job. At least the physical suffering expressed in the psalm makes us think of him; but we are quickly tuned out of those thoughts because it is evident much of this suffering is mental and due to sin. Job was genuinely afflicted both physically and mentally but his problem was not sin. He was so upright that God used Him as a test case of true faith in His divine providence.

This psalm was not written by Job but by David. An examination of the psalm yields no proof as to the nature of David’s sin, and neither is there any record in David’s life elsewhere that describes this intense physical sickness that accompanied it. We might not think a missing record of sickness would be too strange since these types of illnesses were probably more common among the ancients than among us. Today with vaccines and preventative medicines we do not have to go through the myriads of diseases they experienced.

There is a type of sickness, however, that has not changed and neither does it have a new remedy. It is apparent that as a believer David had entered some sin that overly taxed his mental abilities and the burden was tearing him apart. He said, “Mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as a heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (v. 4). We certainly feel for David and our first thoughts may be what a terrible misfortune to be so miserable. But is it really? Would it be better for David to skip and hop through his sin with no care for what he had done? No! In His divine providence God will not allow us to be happy in sin. Sin prevents the showers of His blessings. Sin prevents closeness of fellowship with Him. Sin separates us from God, so God wants to separate us from sin as quickly as possible. Chastisement is a blessing from the Lord because it shows He cares. Hebrews says: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Hebrews 12:6). David was blessed to know the way out of his troubles. In that bleak moment, somebody cared! God loved him and was kind enough to send him painful trouble to bring him to his senses.

I know this may be a very strange thing for a pastor to say, but if you have sin in your life and God is running you through the ringer, I am glad. I am not happy for your sin, but I am happy that you are His child and He will lay the stripes on you until like David you come to your senses. Too many claim to be sons without chastisement for their sins. They go on unaffected. What a dangerous place to be! I would be much more fearful for your soul if you prosper in your sin.

The Bible says, “In everything give thanks.” Maybe it is time for you to thank Him for taking a little hide off your backside when you step out of line. When He does, turn around and go back to the path where He leads. God never stops loving us—He just has some odd ways of showing it.

 

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith