WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.020 Thank you, Sabina. 00:00:01.320 --> 00:00:02.260 Well, let me pray for us. 00:00:03.740 --> 00:00:07.400 Loving Father, we confess in faith that your love does endure forever. 00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:10.939 We thank you that you've gathered us here this morning in your presence 00:00:10.939 --> 00:00:15.099 and we ask that you'd open our hearts and minds to receive what you would say to us. 00:00:15.160 --> 00:00:16.940 We ask you to meet us at our point of need 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:21.059 and indeed that you would reap a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving from our lips 00:00:21.059 --> 00:00:23.359 by people that confess your name. 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:26.980 We ask all these things knowing that it's the end of the year 00:00:26.980 --> 00:00:29.519 and we thank you, Lord, for the year that has passed 00:00:29.519 --> 00:00:34.259 and we pray that you would let us receive from your hand the year that is to come. 00:00:34.619 --> 00:00:36.719 In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen. 00:00:39.439 --> 00:00:41.799 Well, how do you feel at the end of a year? 00:00:43.420 --> 00:00:50.780 If you're a glass half full type, maybe the prospect of a new year, 218, 00:00:51.120 --> 00:00:52.519 it's like an unwritten book. 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:57.320 It's like one of those mildly pretentious diaries, those moleskin diaries. 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:02.159 You know, the pages, the pristine pages open up and they're just waiting to be filled 00:01:02.159 --> 00:01:03.640 and you can't wait to put pen to paper. 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:08.060 But if life isn't so positive for you at the moment, 00:01:09.140 --> 00:01:10.760 you might not be feeling so eager. 00:01:12.200 --> 00:01:15.340 You might have an inkling about how next year might pan out 00:01:15.340 --> 00:01:17.280 and frankly it fills you with anxiety. 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:22.040 If this is you, then the end of the year might just bring a sigh. 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:26.200 For a lot of us, though, there's not much space in our lives 00:01:26.200 --> 00:01:31.219 for these kind of emotions, feeling particularly positive or particularly negative. 00:01:32.019 --> 00:01:34.120 Many of us are just ready to collapse on the lounge 00:01:34.120 --> 00:01:37.280 after all the busyness and the shopping of getting ready for Christmas. 00:01:38.439 --> 00:01:41.280 But however you're finishing up 2017, 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:45.359 I'd like to suggest that there is another way of seeing in the new year. 00:01:46.700 --> 00:01:51.000 In the commercial world, it's standard practice to take stock at the end of a year. 00:01:51.960 --> 00:01:55.260 Ledgers are sorted out, books are balanced, taxes paid. 00:01:56.159 --> 00:01:59.299 And of course, in the commercial world, this happens in the UK in April, 00:01:59.439 --> 00:02:00.359 something hard to discover. 00:02:00.879 --> 00:02:02.560 In Australia, it's in the end of June. 00:02:02.560 --> 00:02:08.719 But at the end of a calendar year, I'd like to suggest it's equally helpful, 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:11.920 a good exercise to take stock of our personal lives. 00:02:13.780 --> 00:02:17.560 Psalm 136 isn't exactly about the new year specifically, 00:02:18.580 --> 00:02:23.020 but it's a great reminder to run a green pen over the past, 00:02:24.020 --> 00:02:26.520 to take stock of all that has happened, 00:02:26.860 --> 00:02:28.960 to take an audit of your life. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:33.200 It's a reminder to Christ's church to do this regularly. 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:37.100 And I think the end of a calendar year presents a perfect opportunity 00:02:37.100 --> 00:02:38.960 for us to do just that. 00:02:40.219 --> 00:02:43.200 Psalm 136, as many of you know, 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:47.060 is one of the set prayers that the people of Israel sang 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:50.319 in their temple and in their synagogues. 00:02:50.980 --> 00:02:53.700 Like many of the psalms, it would have been sung as a conversation 00:02:53.700 --> 00:02:55.580 between the cantor and the congregation. 00:02:55.580 --> 00:02:59.040 The cantor would have sung the main lines 00:02:59.040 --> 00:03:01.660 and the congregation would have answered with the refrain, 00:03:02.260 --> 00:03:04.340 much in the way that we have just done now. 00:03:05.640 --> 00:03:09.500 This call and response way of praying is actually a wonderful way, 00:03:09.540 --> 00:03:13.939 I think, of internalizing the reminders of the psalms. 00:03:14.260 --> 00:03:16.880 It kind of gets you to do it on the spot 00:03:16.880 --> 00:03:20.220 rather than just hear the reminder and forget about it as you walk home. 00:03:20.219 --> 00:03:23.599 But perhaps the best thing, I think, about this psalm 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:26.860 is that it doesn't just remind us to take stock. 00:03:27.840 --> 00:03:33.199 It also provides a very simple model for how to do this. 00:03:35.300 --> 00:03:38.219 The psalm shows us really clearly three line items 00:03:38.219 --> 00:03:41.300 that should make up a retrospective of the year, 00:03:42.099 --> 00:03:45.259 three line items on the stock take of our lives. 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:47.139 And I'd like to give some thought to these three 00:03:47.139 --> 00:03:51.839 so that when we walk out the door, each of us will be better equipped 00:03:51.839 --> 00:03:55.599 to do what the psalmist is telling us to do, to take stock. 00:03:57.579 --> 00:04:00.879 First, Psalm 136 reminds us that true thanksgiving 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:02.839 is a confession of God's goodness. 00:04:04.359 --> 00:04:08.799 When we cast our eyes over all the good things of the past year, 00:04:08.799 --> 00:04:10.539 we are to regard them as a mirror 00:04:10.539 --> 00:04:14.060 in whose reflection we see God himself. 00:04:14.359 --> 00:04:16.019 In the gifts, we must see the giver. 00:04:17.139 --> 00:04:19.759 And that's the very first thing we see the psalmist writes. 00:04:19.939 --> 00:04:24.139 He says, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. 00:04:25.860 --> 00:04:28.360 This is the first place that the psalmist's green pen stops. 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:30.099 And it's such an important reminder. 00:04:30.259 --> 00:04:32.199 Thanksgiving is to be focused on the giver, 00:04:33.019 --> 00:04:34.240 but not merely the gifts. 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:36.459 You see, the psalmist doesn't say, 00:04:36.539 --> 00:04:39.279 give thanks to the Lord for his gifts are really cool. 00:04:40.099 --> 00:04:40.479 No. 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:45.360 He says, give thanks to the Lord for he is good. 00:04:46.740 --> 00:04:48.840 True thanksgiving can only properly begin 00:04:48.840 --> 00:04:51.700 when we see the giver in his gifts. 00:04:52.040 --> 00:04:54.980 It begins with this confession, God, you are good. 00:04:56.860 --> 00:05:00.980 But this potentially brings an unexpected halt to the proceedings. 00:05:00.980 --> 00:05:04.620 If you really grasp what he is saying, 00:05:04.800 --> 00:05:07.520 it could put an end to your stock take before it even begins. 00:05:09.080 --> 00:05:10.720 Does God seem good to you? 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:15.540 This might not even be a question you can fully answer 00:05:15.540 --> 00:05:17.740 in the space of a few minutes. 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:20.400 It's a question, though, that you cannot ignore. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:22.500 Does God seem good to you? 00:05:22.500 --> 00:05:27.259 You cannot ignore this question because you cannot give thanks 00:05:27.259 --> 00:05:30.319 in spirit and in truth when underneath you think 00:05:30.319 --> 00:05:32.459 God actually isn't all that crash hot. 00:05:33.220 --> 00:05:37.500 He might be good to others, but he's dealt me a fairly lousy hand. 00:05:39.939 --> 00:05:43.860 In fact, this question might raise a great many deeper questions. 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:48.579 It might raise complicated problems that we've been wrestling with 00:05:48.579 --> 00:05:50.600 or difficulties we've been carrying for years. 00:05:50.600 --> 00:05:54.879 It potentially raises a bunch of questions, very serious questions, 00:05:54.980 --> 00:05:57.540 but ultimately it forces us to consider these questions 00:05:57.540 --> 00:05:59.620 through a very narrow lens. 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:01.480 Is God good? 00:06:03.120 --> 00:06:04.200 Or is he not? 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:11.040 It actually forces us to bring a very simple yes or no answer. 00:06:11.500 --> 00:06:12.640 The one answer is worship. 00:06:13.660 --> 00:06:15.820 The other answer is a refusal to worship. 00:06:17.460 --> 00:06:20.000 See, true thanksgiving can only properly begin 00:06:20.000 --> 00:06:22.199 when we see the giver in his gifts 00:06:22.199 --> 00:06:25.180 and we answer this question one way or the other. 00:06:25.779 --> 00:06:28.759 Anything less than this falls short of true thanksgiving. 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:32.420 As we embark on our stock taker, 00:06:32.519 --> 00:06:34.560 it's well worth posing this question to ourselves. 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:37.839 This kind of self-examination is actually a really good thing. 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:40.480 It can stop us from simply going through the motions, 00:06:40.920 --> 00:06:42.160 which is so easy to do. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:46.600 Not engaging with God directly and truthfully. 00:06:47.340 --> 00:06:51.120 It can allow light to shine on some of these complicated problems 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:54.000 and difficulties with which we must wrestle. 00:06:55.500 --> 00:06:57.180 True thanksgiving is a confession 00:06:57.180 --> 00:06:59.700 and only a confession of God's goodness. 00:06:59.699 --> 00:07:04.939 But the second thing we need to see 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:08.199 is that this thanksgiving then is very specific. 00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:11.000 Thanksgiving is never in the abstract. 00:07:11.219 --> 00:07:12.240 It's always in the concrete. 00:07:13.019 --> 00:07:14.800 We thank God for individual things. 00:07:14.939 --> 00:07:15.819 We call them to mind. 00:07:15.939 --> 00:07:17.719 We number them one by one, 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:18.980 like the old hymn 00:07:18.980 --> 00:07:21.500 that I'm sure many of you would remember, 00:07:21.740 --> 00:07:22.800 Count Your Blessings. 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:27.840 Now if you look at verse 4 to 24 in your Bibles, 00:07:27.939 --> 00:07:29.900 you'll see that it's just a list of stuff. 00:07:30.960 --> 00:07:32.560 That's how the psalmist is praying. 00:07:32.699 --> 00:07:35.639 It's all the stuff that the psalmist thanks God for. 00:07:36.660 --> 00:07:37.960 He doesn't just say, 00:07:38.819 --> 00:07:39.699 give thanks to the Lord, 00:07:40.160 --> 00:07:41.759 give thanks to the God of gods, 00:07:42.259 --> 00:07:43.759 give thanks to the Lord of lords. 00:07:44.900 --> 00:07:46.480 No, he then moves on 00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:49.400 to say precisely what he is thankful for. 00:07:50.480 --> 00:07:51.720 And this is where I think a good many 00:07:51.720 --> 00:07:53.000 of our contemporary songwriters 00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:56.020 need to take a lesson from the psalms. 00:07:56.740 --> 00:07:58.980 A lack of specificity is a genuine shortcoming 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:01.160 of many of our contemporary praise songs. 00:08:01.220 --> 00:08:03.580 A lot of them just get stuck in verses 1 to 3 00:08:03.580 --> 00:08:06.940 and never seem to make it to verses 4 to 25. 00:08:08.260 --> 00:08:09.600 They say, give thanks to the Lord, 00:08:09.700 --> 00:08:11.100 give thanks to the God of gods, 00:08:11.260 --> 00:08:12.620 give thanks to the Lord of lords. 00:08:13.300 --> 00:08:14.200 You are so awesome. 00:08:14.200 --> 00:08:16.500 But then they never get on to list the benefits 00:08:16.500 --> 00:08:20.460 of God's immense goodness toward us. 00:08:21.720 --> 00:08:23.640 And this can be a shortcoming of our own prayers. 00:08:25.200 --> 00:08:27.120 And there's a very important reason 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.940 why our thanksgiving must be specific. 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:33.960 And it's one that we actually easily forget. 00:08:35.080 --> 00:08:36.759 Being specific in our thanksgiving 00:08:36.759 --> 00:08:41.139 increases our enjoyment of what God has given us. 00:08:41.139 --> 00:08:44.439 Thanking God for friends and family 00:08:44.439 --> 00:08:46.399 makes their company more precious. 00:08:47.240 --> 00:08:48.759 Thanking God for food and drink 00:08:48.759 --> 00:08:49.860 makes it taste better. 00:08:50.659 --> 00:08:52.080 Thanking God for beautiful weather 00:08:52.080 --> 00:08:53.759 increases our pleasure in it. 00:08:54.720 --> 00:08:56.299 And when we don't do this, 00:08:56.340 --> 00:08:57.720 the opposite is actually true. 00:08:58.379 --> 00:09:00.720 When we don't thank God for friends and family, 00:09:01.100 --> 00:09:02.419 we no longer cherish them. 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:05.519 When we fail to thank God for food and drink, 00:09:06.059 --> 00:09:07.480 we begin to take it for granted. 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:09.659 And so on and so forth. 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:15.840 John Calvin put his finger on what the problem is 00:09:15.840 --> 00:09:19.740 when he wrote that every blessing that God confers upon us 00:09:19.740 --> 00:09:22.820 perishes through our carelessness. 00:09:24.399 --> 00:09:27.340 If we are not prompt and active in rendering thanks. 00:09:28.620 --> 00:09:31.300 That is a real gem to think about. 00:09:31.299 --> 00:09:36.219 Every blessing that God confers upon us 00:09:36.219 --> 00:09:38.899 perishes through our carelessness 00:09:38.899 --> 00:09:41.919 if we are not prompt and active in rendering thanks. 00:09:44.079 --> 00:09:45.459 Superhero of all theologians, 00:09:45.579 --> 00:09:47.000 Calvin makes a very simple point. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:49.699 We waste much of God's goodness. 00:09:50.139 --> 00:09:50.719 We waste it. 00:09:50.919 --> 00:09:52.759 We don't derive the enjoyment that we could 00:09:52.759 --> 00:09:54.959 because we don't take the care. 00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:56.219 It's an interesting word, isn't it? 00:09:56.219 --> 00:09:58.779 The care to thank him. 00:09:58.779 --> 00:10:00.559 It's also a very important point 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:03.240 that there's a very concealed danger 00:10:03.240 --> 00:10:07.779 in not enjoying God's goodness to us. 00:10:08.500 --> 00:10:10.100 See, a big part of discontent 00:10:10.100 --> 00:10:13.500 is actually carelessness in thanksgiving. 00:10:14.159 --> 00:10:16.539 You see, we become thankless 00:10:16.539 --> 00:10:19.419 and then we experience less and less joy 00:10:19.419 --> 00:10:22.600 and this leads to growing discontent 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:24.419 and discontent is poison. 00:10:25.379 --> 00:10:27.240 It is poison in difficulties. 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:31.840 Yes, there are difficulties in our lives. 00:10:32.180 --> 00:10:33.879 In some of our lives here, 00:10:34.039 --> 00:10:35.360 there are immense difficulties. 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:37.759 The Christian life is not about 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:39.340 an absence of difficulties, 00:10:39.820 --> 00:10:43.159 but it is about an enjoyment of God 00:10:43.159 --> 00:10:45.399 in the midst of those difficulties. 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:47.879 And carelessness in thanksgiving 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:49.419 is perhaps the greatest threat 00:10:49.419 --> 00:10:51.580 to the enjoyment of God's goodness. 00:10:53.460 --> 00:10:55.700 And that's why thanksgiving must be specific. 00:10:55.700 --> 00:11:00.379 It must move beyond this general vibe 00:11:00.379 --> 00:11:04.860 of thankfulness to detailed itemizing of accounts. 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:08.140 And that leads us to the third thing 00:11:08.140 --> 00:11:10.259 that the psalmist shows us. 00:11:10.700 --> 00:11:12.400 And that is that this specificity 00:11:12.400 --> 00:11:14.740 has a very particular shape. 00:11:15.840 --> 00:11:19.340 We see in the psalm that thanksgiving begins in creation 00:11:19.340 --> 00:11:22.259 and that it ends in redemption. 00:11:22.259 --> 00:11:26.540 The psalmist is just in awe of God as creator. 00:11:27.700 --> 00:11:30.840 I think my favorite is the image in verse 6. 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:32.740 It's particularly powerful. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:35.100 Give thanks to the Lord of Lords 00:11:35.100 --> 00:11:40.660 who spread out the earth upon the waters. 00:11:40.659 --> 00:11:43.500 It's an image of God as a metal worker 00:11:43.500 --> 00:11:46.179 pounding out a sheet of bronze. 00:11:47.419 --> 00:11:49.519 It's an amazing mental image. 00:11:49.600 --> 00:11:51.179 He looks upon the mountains and the valleys 00:11:51.179 --> 00:11:54.919 and pictures God hammering out the earth 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:57.980 like a craftsman planishing his masterpiece. 00:11:57.980 --> 00:12:03.060 I think we should find praying like this 00:12:03.060 --> 00:12:05.580 really easy in this part of the world. 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:07.039 Beauty surrounds us. 00:12:07.560 --> 00:12:11.440 I mean, the Solisby crags are just so astonishingly beautiful 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:13.600 and particularly this time of year 00:12:13.600 --> 00:12:14.539 when they're under snow 00:12:14.539 --> 00:12:17.259 and the sun starts to fall on them in the mornings. 00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:21.840 There's simply so much to thank God for in creation. 00:12:21.840 --> 00:12:26.060 We don't even need to move on to some of the other good things we enjoy 00:12:26.060 --> 00:12:28.220 from creation. 00:12:28.920 --> 00:12:33.060 But as much as we might marvel over these things, 00:12:33.300 --> 00:12:36.480 the crucial thing is that we follow the lead of the psalmist. 00:12:36.580 --> 00:12:38.899 You notice that he moves very quickly then 00:12:38.899 --> 00:12:43.300 and spends the bulk of his prayer meditating on redemption. 00:12:44.460 --> 00:12:49.879 See, the psalmist knows that he could not enjoy God as creator 00:12:49.879 --> 00:12:51.519 if God were not a redeemer. 00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:54.879 As an Israelite, the psalmist's great experience of redemption 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.379 was the rescue of God's people from Egypt. 00:12:58.000 --> 00:12:59.379 And verses 10 to 24, 00:13:00.519 --> 00:13:05.320 they recap the elements of the story of the Exodus. 00:13:07.180 --> 00:13:10.220 Here we can watch how the psalmist recalls 00:13:10.220 --> 00:13:13.259 that the same hand that beat out the shape of the earth 00:13:13.259 --> 00:13:15.879 also struck down the firstborn of the Egyptians. 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:19.220 The same hands that spread out the heavens 00:13:19.220 --> 00:13:21.320 also divided the Red Sea. 00:13:22.700 --> 00:13:24.960 Now, we might not feel particularly connected 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.340 to the Israel's rescue from Egypt, 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:31.200 but if we have put our faith in Christ Jesus, 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:34.060 we have experienced the even greater salvation 00:13:34.060 --> 00:13:36.379 that the Exodus foreshadowed. 00:13:37.379 --> 00:13:38.800 Through Jesus' death and resurrection, 00:13:39.000 --> 00:13:41.660 God has brought immortality to light. 00:13:42.200 --> 00:13:44.740 Death no longer stands in front of us as the last enemy. 00:13:44.740 --> 00:13:48.580 Because Jesus bore the guilt and punishment for our sins, 00:13:48.899 --> 00:13:52.000 we will be raised as he was raised. 00:13:53.060 --> 00:13:55.080 Now, if you've put your faith in Jesus Christ, 00:13:55.399 --> 00:13:59.440 you have part in this much greater salvation 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:01.659 than Israel's deliverance from Egypt. 00:14:01.659 --> 00:14:06.399 And we marvel at this salvation because of what it costs. 00:14:08.019 --> 00:14:09.399 Creation costs God nothing. 00:14:10.879 --> 00:14:13.360 By the breath of his mouth, he simply commanded, 00:14:13.779 --> 00:14:14.819 let there be light. 00:14:15.879 --> 00:14:16.719 And there was light. 00:14:17.379 --> 00:14:19.480 But redeeming the world cost him dearly. 00:14:20.419 --> 00:14:23.360 Redeeming the world came at the cost of his one and only Son. 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:28.240 And so in the same way as the psalmist was filled with awe 00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.180 at God's salvation of the people of Israel, 00:14:30.360 --> 00:14:33.919 a pride of place in our thanksgiving will be held 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:35.220 by our great salvation. 00:14:36.680 --> 00:14:38.720 In the same way the psalmist lists all the elements 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:41.700 of God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt 00:14:41.700 --> 00:14:43.240 through their journey in the wilderness 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:44.860 into their entry into Canaan, 00:14:45.720 --> 00:14:49.840 so too we can list what God has done for us in Christ. 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.940 We can thank God for the forgiveness of sins, 00:14:53.180 --> 00:14:54.820 how precious that is. 00:14:57.000 --> 00:14:58.740 For being saved from judgment, 00:14:59.519 --> 00:15:01.800 what a terror has been taken away from us. 00:15:02.500 --> 00:15:04.960 For being reconciled to our Heavenly Father, 00:15:05.080 --> 00:15:06.700 what intimacy there is for us. 00:15:07.960 --> 00:15:09.660 For the promise of the resurrection, 00:15:10.440 --> 00:15:12.200 what hope there lies before us. 00:15:12.300 --> 00:15:13.780 For the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, 00:15:14.780 --> 00:15:17.600 what warmth there exists amongst us. 00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:21.700 So in this psalm, the psalmist we see lists 00:15:21.700 --> 00:15:23.379 these 22 separate things. 00:15:23.500 --> 00:15:23.879 And you know what? 00:15:23.899 --> 00:15:26.500 It took us the sum total of three minutes 00:15:26.500 --> 00:15:28.519 to say them out loud. 00:15:29.860 --> 00:15:33.139 His words are such depth, but they're so compact. 00:15:34.040 --> 00:15:35.840 In our thanksgiving, we could take a leaf out 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:37.040 of the psalmist's book, couldn't we? 00:15:38.540 --> 00:15:40.300 Before you go to sleep tonight, try that, 00:15:40.379 --> 00:15:44.100 listing 22 things you've received from God's hand this year. 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:46.860 And discipline yourself to shape your thanksgiving 00:15:46.860 --> 00:15:48.840 in the way that the psalmist does. 00:15:48.940 --> 00:15:50.159 Beginning with all the good things 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:51.980 God's given you in creation, 00:15:52.100 --> 00:15:54.019 you might have even enjoyed this very day. 00:15:54.920 --> 00:15:56.600 But then moving, as he does, 00:15:57.379 --> 00:15:59.779 to what he has given you as Redeemer. 00:16:01.379 --> 00:16:03.860 And let your thanksgiving follow this particular shape. 00:16:04.580 --> 00:16:06.659 The psalmist doesn't overlook the goodness of creation. 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:10.100 He spends most of his time dwelling on God's goodness 00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:11.019 to him in redemption. 00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:15.559 This is the psalmist's very simple lesson 00:16:15.559 --> 00:16:18.899 in how to take an audit of your life. 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:21.220 Begin with the goodness of the giver. 00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:24.360 Be specific in your thanks. 00:16:25.579 --> 00:16:28.079 And worship him as your creator and as your redeemer. 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.600 Pray like this, and it will bring rich communion 00:16:31.600 --> 00:16:32.720 with your heavenly Father. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:36.000 There is, however, one last element 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:39.399 in the psalmist's lesson on how to use a green pen. 00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:43.879 And this is possibly the most important reminder 00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:46.179 of Psalm 136. 00:16:46.759 --> 00:16:48.559 In fact, it's so important to the psalmist 00:16:48.559 --> 00:16:51.819 that he makes the congregation repeat it 00:16:51.819 --> 00:16:54.500 after every single thing he says. 00:16:55.659 --> 00:16:58.059 In fact, he made a, we've got you guys 00:16:58.059 --> 00:17:00.879 to repeat it after everything Sabina says. 00:17:01.559 --> 00:17:03.740 With each line, the psalmist makes the congregation 00:17:03.740 --> 00:17:06.079 remember that thanksgiving isn't just about 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:07.099 remembering the past. 00:17:07.099 --> 00:17:10.219 It's not just about God's goodness to us yesterday, 00:17:10.779 --> 00:17:13.899 last month, or even in the course of the year. 00:17:14.519 --> 00:17:16.259 Rather, everything that God has done 00:17:16.259 --> 00:17:18.339 in our past reminds us, 00:17:18.599 --> 00:17:20.959 reminds us of what? 00:17:22.459 --> 00:17:24.740 That we can have confidence for the future. 00:17:25.259 --> 00:17:27.579 Because each instance of God's goodness, 00:17:27.579 --> 00:17:31.399 God's goodness, yesterday, last month, 00:17:32.399 --> 00:17:37.539 last year, it's a testimony of God's ongoing commitment 00:17:37.539 --> 00:17:39.639 of love to us. 00:17:41.079 --> 00:17:42.339 At the end of each line, 00:17:44.119 --> 00:17:45.839 the psalmist makes us call to mind, 00:17:46.159 --> 00:17:48.419 his love endures forever. 00:17:49.220 --> 00:17:50.460 This is really big. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.319 You need to take it in. 00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:55.059 Each kindness of God that we celebrate in thanksgiving 00:17:55.059 --> 00:17:58.700 is a sign of God's unyielding commitment to our future. 00:17:59.399 --> 00:18:01.519 God's love doesn't just last until you're 64. 00:18:02.720 --> 00:18:05.939 It doesn't just last until you've used up all your chances. 00:18:07.259 --> 00:18:09.019 There will never come a time 00:18:09.019 --> 00:18:12.299 when God ceases to express his kindness 00:18:12.299 --> 00:18:13.899 towards those in Christ Jesus. 00:18:14.279 --> 00:18:15.539 There will never come a time 00:18:15.539 --> 00:18:17.339 when he doesn't extend his goodness 00:18:17.339 --> 00:18:19.519 to those in the Son whom he loves. 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:23.920 No, God's love endures forever. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:27.720 This is the great truth that lies at the heart of thanksgiving. 00:18:28.200 --> 00:18:29.700 God's goodness in our past 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:33.839 is a pledge of his ongoing and never-failing faithfulness 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:35.180 for the future. 00:18:36.119 --> 00:18:37.400 And if we take this to heart, 00:18:37.500 --> 00:18:38.700 it really settles us. 00:18:39.539 --> 00:18:40.839 When we face the unknown, 00:18:41.039 --> 00:18:43.240 it releases whatever fears we harbour. 00:18:44.440 --> 00:18:46.160 This is the jewel of the psalm, 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:47.900 and you can't leave this morning 00:18:47.900 --> 00:18:49.400 without taking this with you. 00:18:49.519 --> 00:18:51.160 If God is for us, 00:18:51.440 --> 00:18:53.099 who can be against us? 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:54.940 He who did not spare his own Son, 00:18:55.680 --> 00:18:57.099 but gave him up for us all, 00:18:57.460 --> 00:18:59.720 how will he not also, along with him, 00:19:00.339 --> 00:19:01.859 graciously give us all things? 00:19:02.579 --> 00:19:03.940 So says the Apostle Paul, 00:19:04.839 --> 00:19:06.379 basically saying the same thing. 00:19:08.139 --> 00:19:10.940 Everything that God has done in our past 00:19:10.940 --> 00:19:12.980 reminds us that we can have confidence 00:19:12.980 --> 00:19:14.480 for the future, 00:19:14.480 --> 00:19:18.960 because his love endures forever. 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:23.799 So as we come to the end of the year, 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:25.980 the beginning of a new one, 00:19:26.640 --> 00:19:28.079 let's do what the psalmist says. 00:19:28.120 --> 00:19:29.180 Let's take up a green pen. 00:19:30.039 --> 00:19:31.180 Let's take stock. 00:19:31.180 --> 00:19:36.380 Let's run a green pen over a year. 00:19:36.500 --> 00:19:38.840 Let's remind ourselves of God's goodness to us. 00:19:39.600 --> 00:19:42.400 Later today, either by yourself or as a family, 00:19:43.200 --> 00:19:44.500 begin with the goodness of the giver. 00:19:45.460 --> 00:19:47.120 Be specific in your thanks. 00:19:47.259 --> 00:19:50.039 Worship him as your creator and redeemer. 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:52.960 Giving thanks to God like this honors him, 00:19:53.019 --> 00:19:53.599 but more importantly, 00:19:53.740 --> 00:19:55.759 it renews us in a confidence 00:19:55.759 --> 00:19:58.279 that actually honors him much more. 00:19:58.779 --> 00:19:59.539 When we thank God, 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:01.440 we praise him for the blessings we can see. 00:20:02.440 --> 00:20:05.420 When we entrust ourselves to him for the future, 00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:08.839 we praise him for blessings that remain as yet unseen. 00:20:10.379 --> 00:20:12.119 So whether you're going to celebrate 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:13.460 with the Hogmanay concerts, 00:20:14.159 --> 00:20:15.420 or you're going to watch the fireworks, 00:20:16.220 --> 00:20:18.059 or just welcome the new year quietly at home, 00:20:18.059 --> 00:20:20.839 take the time to recall all the kindnesses 00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:23.039 that God has shown you this year 00:20:23.039 --> 00:20:24.460 and bring these to God in prayer. 00:20:25.679 --> 00:20:27.579 Do this both to kindle a joy in his blessings 00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:28.720 and renew a confidence 00:20:28.720 --> 00:20:32.500 that the blessings will await you in the year to come. 00:20:33.879 --> 00:20:35.659 There will be difficulties to come, 00:20:35.859 --> 00:20:37.859 as there are difficulties in the year that's passed, 00:20:38.460 --> 00:20:40.279 but there will also be an enjoyment of God, 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:42.339 and we can be certain of this 00:20:42.339 --> 00:20:44.539 because God's love never fails. 00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:47.579 His love endures forever. 00:20:49.039 --> 00:20:49.480 Amen. 00:20:50.339 --> 00:20:51.000 Let's pray. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:56.419 Loving Father, we worship you as the God 00:20:56.419 --> 00:20:57.960 who is constant, 00:20:59.220 --> 00:21:00.940 whose love toward us never fails. 00:21:01.579 --> 00:21:03.220 And we ask, Lord, that you would renew us 00:21:03.220 --> 00:21:04.720 in a fresh appreciation of this, 00:21:04.799 --> 00:21:05.859 that you would draw our eyes 00:21:05.859 --> 00:21:09.079 to all the benefits that you have given us, Lord, 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:12.500 as our creator and as our redeemer. 00:21:12.579 --> 00:21:13.339 And we ask this, Lord, 00:21:13.399 --> 00:21:16.619 that you would just reap a harvest of praise from our lips, 00:21:16.619 --> 00:21:18.319 that we would be a people 00:21:18.319 --> 00:21:21.419 who brings a sacrifice of praise to you constantly 00:21:21.419 --> 00:21:24.179 and honours you and worships you, Lord, 00:21:25.139 --> 00:21:26.699 with words that are fit for you, 00:21:26.919 --> 00:21:28.779 according to your great goodness toward us. 00:21:29.740 --> 00:21:30.119 Amen. 00:21:30.119 --> 00:21:30.160 Amen. 00:21:30.160 --> 00:21:32.160 guys.