WEBVTT 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:06.860 So when you've been through times of trials in our psalm this morning, which seems really apt, 00:00:07.299 --> 00:00:14.359 it often gives us a heightened perspective about our own character. And so I'm going to ask you 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:21.480 the question, in our theme today of being thankful for God's love in our lives, what characteristics 00:00:21.480 --> 00:00:28.660 are you known for? And I'm not just mean that physical characteristics, when you looked in 00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:35.799 that mirror this morning, and you saw that amazing vision of beauty and handsomeness when 00:00:35.799 --> 00:00:41.460 you looked there this morning. It's looking deeper. I mean, your character traits. What 00:00:41.460 --> 00:00:49.659 would people say of you who know you really well? On the marriage course, if you've been 00:00:49.659 --> 00:00:56.780 on the marriage course, we often talk about rhinos and hedgehogs. And it comes in two different 00:00:56.780 --> 00:01:03.939 characteristics of a rhino that suddenly, when it's riled, will go for it. There is no stopping. 00:01:05.140 --> 00:01:12.719 But then there's a hedgehog that just gets all prickly. Where do our characteristics reflect 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:22.159 in who we are? And how is that working it out in the character of God, of God's love, 00:01:22.159 --> 00:01:29.299 and giving gratitude for how that works out through our lives, which we capture something in the psalm 00:01:29.299 --> 00:01:35.079 this morning. And it's about this time of year when I get inundated, and I'm so pleased I do, 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:42.439 with references for people who are going off to serve on different Christian camps, or serving with 00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:49.719 TLG, whatever you are doing to serve. And often the question comes down to the question that I am asked, 00:01:49.719 --> 00:01:58.079 how do I comment on the person's character? What do I see? What is that outworking of them, 00:01:58.480 --> 00:02:06.759 of God in their lives? What is it that they portray? There's a famous quote, and I'm not sure 00:02:06.759 --> 00:02:12.939 who I can attribute it to, because I wrote it some time ago in my prayer journal, but it's there. 00:02:12.939 --> 00:02:20.680 Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you 00:02:20.680 --> 00:02:28.680 really are, while your reputation is merely what others think about you. It's an interesting one, 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:35.479 isn't it? As we look across the society at the moment, maybe in the news, of how so quickly people 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:42.379 can fall. That suddenly the reputation doesn't match with the character. And I think as Christians, 00:02:42.539 --> 00:02:47.339 it's very interesting that we should look at that in the context of being grateful, 00:02:47.699 --> 00:02:53.659 of grateful for all that God does in us and through us. And as we came to our covenant promises 00:02:53.659 --> 00:02:59.019 this morning, which actually heightens the idea of what does our character measure up 00:02:59.020 --> 00:03:05.960 against these things that we have committed to, our covenant prayer, that one that always comes back 00:03:05.960 --> 00:03:15.320 to challenge me is rank me with whom you will. Because that is an opportunity, or is it a challenge? 00:03:16.300 --> 00:03:23.200 Because I guess for any of us, if we were choosing our team, who would we choose to be alongside us? 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:29.719 But maybe more importantly, within the love of Christ, who might we not be more inclined to have 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:37.060 on our team? It's an interesting one when it comes, if you had to choose. But again, I come back again 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:45.060 then with those, and look at Jesus's team that he chose. You know, some rough fishermen, a tax collector, 00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:49.919 people that he gathered around him. And why? Because of God's love. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:57.819 And that is what we're called to portray. Let's be honest, people aren't always nice. People aren't 00:03:57.819 --> 00:04:05.579 always kind. People sometimes can be awkward, rebellious, ungrateful, rude, and obnoxious. 00:04:05.859 --> 00:04:13.159 And that's just talking about myself sometimes. You know, we're not all perfect. But again, 00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:19.620 we seek to have that character of God that we aspire to in us and through us. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:26.460 I think there's none more that we've known people that we know and love that we've nurtured, 00:04:26.980 --> 00:04:33.879 and yet suddenly there's a change. A bit like adolescence and teenage years. 00:04:34.980 --> 00:04:39.439 I don't know if you've travelled that road. Then you will know the cost of loving, 00:04:39.939 --> 00:04:45.220 and maybe we need to appreciate those that travelled the road with us through those days as well, 00:04:45.220 --> 00:04:52.220 if you experience that. And for our God, our Heavenly Father, who again and again and again 00:04:52.220 --> 00:05:01.780 loves us, no matter what we have done, Jesus gave us that representation of that love and of God's 00:05:01.780 --> 00:05:08.760 character through Jesus in John 3.16. God so loved the world that he gave us his Son. Yet, you see, 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:15.360 when I read this psalm, I also grasp the depths of God's love, of God's love, how he loves us with 00:05:15.360 --> 00:05:20.339 all our faults, with all our frailties, with all the way in which we live out our lives, 00:05:21.039 --> 00:05:27.980 that we need to be grateful to God for his general, steadfast, and unending love for us 00:05:27.980 --> 00:05:32.819 in all circumstances and in every part of our lives, no matter what we face. 00:05:32.819 --> 00:05:38.540 And the psalmist keeps coming back, no matter what we experience, that God has committed and 00:05:38.540 --> 00:05:47.920 covenanted with us his love. Why? Because his love transcends all our understanding, waywardness, 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:54.019 rebelliousness, everything that we should at all times and all give places, give thanks unto him, 00:05:54.920 --> 00:05:59.240 for he continues to love us, despite our ungrateful character. 00:05:59.240 --> 00:06:06.439 This psalm ignites in me something especially on this Covenant Sunday, and I hope it does for you too, 00:06:06.759 --> 00:06:12.439 because what I've experienced over these past few weeks, again, when you reflect, you reflect on the 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:19.939 graciousness of God, of whatever you're going through, and knowing and relying more and more on 00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:27.280 the Holy Spirit to point out the things and make your list about the things for which you are thankful 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:34.299 for, for his gracious love and his care, often through other people. And on this Covenant Sunday, 00:06:34.439 --> 00:06:41.719 maybe you've grasped afresh that steadfast love of the Lord for you and the community that we are called 00:06:41.719 --> 00:06:50.179 to serve, and gratitude for his love. And in doing so, he leads us into more and more, and as Paul 00:06:50.180 --> 00:06:56.220 in the New Testament implores us again and again in the early church, that we are formed more and more 00:06:56.220 --> 00:07:03.400 in our character into the likeness of Christ. More and more, there is more in our character that we can 00:07:03.400 --> 00:07:10.519 do, that we can be more like him in what we do, and what we say, and how we serve, and how we share, 00:07:10.780 --> 00:07:16.439 and to reflect his love and faithfulness, his presence, power and purpose for a waiting world 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:23.579 that longs to see that. Because there's nothing about thankfulness and gratitude that isn't attractive, 00:07:23.719 --> 00:07:31.420 is there? We all respond to a thank you, we all respond to that. So why on earth do we not give that to 00:07:31.420 --> 00:07:38.860 the Lord more and more? Thankfulness, yes, because it's warm, it's encouraging, it's good, it honours us, 00:07:38.860 --> 00:07:47.960 it honours the giver, as well as to the person to whom we give it. Thank you, Lord. And when you see 00:07:47.960 --> 00:07:55.500 genuine, warm-hearted gratitude, we think, I want to be more like that. So no wonder the psalm opens 00:07:55.500 --> 00:08:01.379 with this command, oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love ensures, 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:07.800 endures forever. And maybe you have heard those words afresh this morning. Maybe as you listen on this 00:08:07.800 --> 00:08:14.759 podcast or wherever you're listening to this, and you think, I want some more of that. I need to give 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:23.780 thanks to you, Lord, for the graciousness in my life, no matter what stage I am at. A grateful character 00:08:23.780 --> 00:08:31.300 that grows in thankfulness, that people see in me, that warm people to us in a world that so sadly, 00:08:31.300 --> 00:08:39.940 at the moment, majors on criticism, selfishness, and self-seeking. Giving thanks always and being 00:08:39.940 --> 00:08:47.000 grateful that God is good and that his love towards us never ends. And that consistency, 00:08:47.740 --> 00:08:54.519 and that's the thing, is this consistency of the love of God for which we are grateful in gratitude, 00:08:54.519 --> 00:09:01.659 that isn't just felt in the heart, but you know, and you will know in your life, and maybe being on the 00:09:01.659 --> 00:09:10.039 receiving end, of how that spills out from people. It doesn't stay, it spills out into the lives around 00:09:10.039 --> 00:09:19.860 us. My study is literally littered with cards and messages, and I thank you. Verse 2 says, 00:09:19.860 --> 00:09:25.800 let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble. And we need to show and 00:09:25.800 --> 00:09:33.740 proclaim that gratitude to God. To redeem something means to buy it, to buy it back, to rescue it. And 00:09:33.740 --> 00:09:39.840 the people who are listening to this psalm knew exactly that. For somebody, if you fell on hard 00:09:39.840 --> 00:09:46.420 times in a community, what you wanted was for somebody from your extended family to rise up as a 00:09:46.419 --> 00:09:52.179 kingsman redeemer, and they would rescue you from debt, they would take it upon themselves, they would 00:09:52.179 --> 00:09:58.539 buy you out of slavery, or lift you out of poverty, and they would be your redeemer, and you would be 00:09:58.539 --> 00:10:08.279 redeemed, you would be free. The cross is exactly that. We have been bought, as we have shared in communion. 00:10:09.039 --> 00:10:15.459 We are the redeemed. If that isn't something to give thanks for, then I don't know what is. 00:10:15.460 --> 00:10:21.100 So the psalmist is saying, come on, let thankfulness build in your hearts because of his goodness and 00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:28.040 his steadfast love that God has redeemed you. But what kind of trouble? What kind of trouble could an 00:10:28.040 --> 00:10:34.180 ancient Israelite have experienced? Well, you won't be surprised that it doesn't change much 00:10:34.180 --> 00:10:41.560 than it does today, because it's about our character. And so the psalmist, as he speaks, 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:48.979 resonates with us today and points out four points. He's reminding us, and that we need to be reminded 00:10:48.979 --> 00:10:56.079 of this, because in verse 3 it said, God has redeemed his people from the four points of the compass. 00:10:56.599 --> 00:11:03.319 He calls us back, and the first one is the wanderer. In verse 4 and 5 it says, 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:11.500 Some wandered in desert wastes, finding no way to a city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsting, 00:11:11.820 --> 00:11:21.660 their soul fainted within them. People knew what it was like to wander. And maybe we resonate with us 00:11:21.660 --> 00:11:27.860 this morning. For those of us who have wandered, for those of us maybe at the moment who are listening, 00:11:27.860 --> 00:11:34.379 who have wandered at the moment, far from God's love. Who we believe that we have been some way 00:11:34.379 --> 00:11:43.240 separated. And yet when God calls us back again and again, the wanderer. People knew what it was like. 00:11:43.539 --> 00:11:48.320 The hunger, the thirst, the exhaustion in a desert place. And you may know that today, 00:11:48.419 --> 00:11:53.800 what that desert place might look like for you. Because there is something more. We wander. 00:11:53.799 --> 00:12:00.500 We all like sheep have gone astray. Each of us to his own way. But that's why Jesus came. 00:12:01.479 --> 00:12:08.259 To bring us back. Jesus emphasized that point so often in stories again and again of the lost, 00:12:08.339 --> 00:12:15.799 of the wanderer, the sheep, the coin, the son, the child that disappeared, the father that just 00:12:15.799 --> 00:12:22.699 couldn't wait for the son to come back and was waiting. The love never ended. The redeeming power 00:12:22.700 --> 00:12:28.900 and character of God is something to be grateful for day in and day out. Because the steadfast love 00:12:28.900 --> 00:12:35.920 of the Lord is one that recurs in the Bible throughout again and again and again. It defines 00:12:35.920 --> 00:12:43.580 the person and character of God. And then there's the shadow dweller that he talks about. 10 and 11, 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:48.280 some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and aligns, 00:12:48.279 --> 00:12:54.839 for they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the counsel of the Most High. You know, 00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:00.319 the people hearing this knew the chain of events. They knew because they thought that they could throw 00:13:00.319 --> 00:13:07.839 off God's promises and everything that he had done. Instead of being grateful for their liberation 00:13:07.839 --> 00:13:13.620 and being grateful for their freedom, they turned to idols and the culture of the day. 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:21.539 And don't we know that? How people have turned to the culture of the day, their character aligned 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:28.840 with secular views rather than God's view and God's way. Does that sound familiar to you? To the people 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:36.500 that we seek to reach? Maybe for ourselves at times? Foes that resonate with a community that we are 00:13:36.500 --> 00:13:43.620 seeking to reach. They thought that throwing off God's law would make them free. To do whatever 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:50.279 they wanted and instead they found themselves incarcerated in a Babylonian culture that was 00:13:50.279 --> 00:13:56.620 more restrictive than the freedom that God was offering them. You see, God's words and his standards 00:13:56.620 --> 00:14:03.279 are born out of love and as a society, at least in the West, individual freedom and autonomy 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:11.539 of become modern day idols. We want to do what we want to do when we want to do it and we don't want 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:18.100 to be told what we can do and what we can't do. And to be told otherwise is regarded as bigoted, 00:14:18.539 --> 00:14:26.480 controlling and constricting. But the irony is when we pursue rampant individualism, 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:33.840 we end up in the darkness, which is what this psalm is talking about. Our own prison and our own demise, 00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:40.580 chained by selfishness, personal preference, self-centeredness and society promises us freedom? 00:14:40.779 --> 00:14:49.279 I don't think so because we end up enslaved. Shadow dwellers. But then the psalmist gives us 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:56.159 the third type of person, which is the fool in verses 17 to 18. Some fools through their own sinful 00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:00.679 ways and because of their iniquities suffered affliction. They loathed any kind of food and 00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:06.079 they draw near to the gates of death. Now, I don't know you, I've never met anybody who liked being 00:15:06.079 --> 00:15:13.799 called a fool. It's not very kind, is it really? But the Bible is much more nuanced when it talks of 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:20.479 people being a fool because to be a fool is the opposite of wise. And the biblical and godly character 00:15:20.479 --> 00:15:29.259 gives us wisdom, gives us direction. You know, I struggle being grateful maybe for his guidance day by 00:15:29.259 --> 00:15:36.819 day, seeking his wisdom, even in the small things of life. Look, what should I do in this? Show me a way 00:15:36.819 --> 00:15:41.879 forward. Show me a way. It may not be the way in which I'm going, but show me which way to go, will you? 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:46.679 Give me wisdom in this decision or whatever the way I'm living my life. 00:15:48.519 --> 00:15:56.159 I often struggle at the crematorium when somebody has chosen, as the curtains come around, to play 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:04.620 that Frank Sinatra song, I did it my way. You know, I feel it's a bit of an affront really to God, 00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:10.720 for all of God's graciousness and love to turn at the last moment as the curtains come around 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:18.720 to say, well, thank you very much because I've done it my way. Maybe that increases our list in us of 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:24.779 the things in which we give thanks for. So whilst we may look like a fool to anyone else, we may not 00:16:24.779 --> 00:16:31.100 be quite as clever as we think. And we're all in danger of suffering from our own folly. 00:16:31.100 --> 00:16:38.540 So there's the wanderer, the shadow dweller, and the fool. And then we come to the final one that the 00:16:38.540 --> 00:16:45.240 psalmist talks about, which is the overwhelmed. And some went down to the sea in ships doing business 00:16:45.240 --> 00:16:50.480 in great waters. They commanded and raised the stormy wind which lifted up the waves of the sea. 00:16:50.580 --> 00:16:55.300 They mounted up to heaven. They went down to the depths. Their courage melted away in their evil plight. 00:16:55.299 --> 00:16:59.740 They reeled and staggered like drunken men. They were at their wits end. Have you ever been in the 00:16:59.740 --> 00:17:08.440 perfect storm? Perhaps you're there at the moment. There's times in our lives, which you will know as 00:17:08.440 --> 00:17:16.059 well as I do, where you have faced the storm. And then the next wave comes. And you think, wasn't that 00:17:16.059 --> 00:17:24.500 enough? And then the next wave comes. And it's the perfect storm. And you think, where is this coming from? 00:17:24.500 --> 00:17:33.079 Where is this? And then another one comes on top of that again, plunging you down. And I can't take 00:17:33.079 --> 00:17:39.400 this anymore, Lord. The psalmist relates the sea as an almost physical embodiment of their chaos. 00:17:39.960 --> 00:17:46.500 And at times when you and I feel overwhelmed by the chaos of life, you desperately search for order in 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:55.039 it. For someone to plant your feet in the storm, there seems no respite. The rescuer comes. 00:17:56.579 --> 00:18:07.740 Because God isn't separate. God is there with you in the storm. Maybe it was a bit of a revelation to me 00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:15.920 from story of days in Sunday school, where we hear that really nice little story of the man who built 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:22.620 his house on the rock and the man who built his house on the sand. It's very nice, isn't it? I don't 00:18:22.620 --> 00:18:27.960 know about you, I've often felt as though I'm very smug, because it's very nice being in the house on the 00:18:27.960 --> 00:18:36.680 rock, isn't it? But what I realise so often is the storm was exactly the same. The storm wasn't any 00:18:36.680 --> 00:18:45.840 different for the person on the rock or the man on the sand. It was the same storm. It's who you trust 00:18:45.840 --> 00:18:54.080 in when the storm comes, and who is with you in the storm. The psalmist, the wanderer, the shadow 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:59.880 dweller, the fool and the overwhelmed acknowledges that God's love never gives up on you, is alongside 00:18:59.880 --> 00:19:06.060 you, who will lift you up, who will hold you, who will embrace you wherever you are. And we give thanks 00:19:06.059 --> 00:19:14.099 to that, as hard as that might be at times, but Lord, I know that you are with me in each and every 00:19:14.099 --> 00:19:20.659 part of my life, and as much as I struggle to articulate it, as often as I should, I give you 00:19:20.659 --> 00:19:26.819 thanks, and I give you gratitude, because I know that you will never leave me or forsake me. 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:34.319 One of the good things about having a patch on your eye for so long is that you can't read, 00:19:34.659 --> 00:19:42.700 or at least you struggle. You will know that. So I caught up with some films, and Evan Almighty 00:19:42.700 --> 00:19:49.159 is one of my favourite films. And if you don't know the story of Evan Almighty, you will know that in 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:55.420 all things he seemed to be extremely successful, when like our covenant story today, God asked him 00:19:55.420 --> 00:20:01.180 to do something which clearly Evan didn't want to do, which was to build an ark in the middle of the 00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:09.340 desert. Seems bizarre and seems strange. And yet through that, Evan learnt in his character to trust 00:20:09.340 --> 00:20:15.660 more and more, step by step, in God, and to be grateful for what he was doing. However, his wife didn't 00:20:15.660 --> 00:20:21.440 quite see that at the time, and it's hard for people who were alongside and alongside us in suffering 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:23.300 sometimes to give thanks. 00:20:26.140 --> 00:20:32.560 I think it's an opportunity this morning, as we've heard God's word, maybe already in your mind as you're 00:20:32.560 --> 00:20:38.140 listening to this, that you're thinking of the things for which you are grateful, that you are grateful 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:44.080 for God's love. Maybe you are grateful for somebody who brought you to Christ. 00:20:44.079 --> 00:20:51.819 Maybe you're grateful for somebody who has supported you through a tough time. Maybe you're grateful 00:20:51.819 --> 00:20:57.619 that God has been with you in your rebellion as you've wandered. Maybe you are grateful because God 00:20:57.619 --> 00:21:04.159 has called you back from a place from which you wandered. Maybe you are grateful for the way in which God 00:21:04.159 --> 00:21:10.279 is speaking to you this morning and giving you the opportunity to be courageous, the opportunity 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:17.740 to love afresh. Things that we can thank God for his graciousness, for a loved one that he's brought 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:25.139 alongside us in our marriage and in our relationship. Being grateful for maybe our children, maybe grateful 00:21:25.139 --> 00:21:32.619 the way God's working on our own character. So many things, the list goes on and on and on. 00:21:32.619 --> 00:21:40.759 So on this morning, as we think about graciousness and the graciousness of God's love, I'm just 00:21:40.759 --> 00:21:47.279 going to do something which is totally un-Anglican and more lending, more towards my Pentecostal 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:54.959 side. And I'm going to invite you to stand. And the bands were just in a noodle along in the 00:21:54.959 --> 00:22:02.339 background. And in our thankfulness, it said that they cried out to the Lord. And all the things 00:22:02.339 --> 00:22:07.119 in this room, of all these people, of the things that we have to give thanks for, I am going to 00:22:07.119 --> 00:22:14.899 invite you to cry that out to the Lord in gratitude for the things that he has shown you, for the 00:22:14.899 --> 00:22:21.319 things that he is doing, for the things that he has done in your life. And we're going to fill this 00:22:21.319 --> 00:22:28.459 place. And we're going to be bold here and just cry out to the Lord to give thanks. It might well be 00:22:28.459 --> 00:22:32.159 that you want to give thanks for one thing. If you'd like me, it's going to be a whole list of things. 00:22:32.339 --> 00:22:38.059 To be, thank the Lord for our graciousness of God, for our kids, for our family, for our provision, 00:22:38.220 --> 00:22:44.439 that we even et this morning, which is a large part, is that those who have been to Uganda and 00:22:44.439 --> 00:22:50.220 those that have just come back will tell you what a gracious thing that is to even be fed 00:22:50.220 --> 00:22:57.120 and to be clothed. So much that we have to give that we can take to a waiting world. 00:22:58.279 --> 00:23:02.600 So as I pray, we're just going to, in our own mind, I'm just going to give you a moment and then we are 00:23:02.600 --> 00:23:09.640 going to speak out those things to the Lord as one. Holy Spirit, would you come? We thank you, Lord, 00:23:09.640 --> 00:23:18.480 for that you are a gracious God. And we thank you. We thank you beyond our understanding of the things 00:23:18.480 --> 00:23:28.340 that you do and can do in our lives. So Lord, we thank you. Let's just speak out those words. 00:23:29.380 --> 00:23:34.259 Speak them out loud. Speak them out. Thank you, Lord, for this. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for your 00:23:34.259 --> 00:23:41.279 graciousness. Thank you for my children. Lord, thank you that I had this morning. Let's do that 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:54.319 together now. Be spontaneous. Let go. Be free of freedom. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.