Please take your Bibles and open them up to Psalm chapter 30.
Psalm chapter 30 this morning, if you don't have a copy of God's Word that you brought with you,
! feel free to use one in the seat back nearby. There should be one close by to you. But our aim every time I come up here or Treg comes up here or anybody stands up here is to open up God's Word and see what's there and then to explain it and apply it with his help.
And so if you would, turn to Psalm chapter 30. We're concluding our series in the Psalms that we've been in the Psalms for the past several weeks over the summer.
And we're concluding it here with chapter 30. And it's fitting that we end here with this theme of David praising and worshiping and giving thanks to the Lord for what he's done.
So if you would, let's stand in honor of the reading of God's Word once you've found that in your Bible. Psalm chapter 30. Let's stand together.
Listen along as I read. Psalm chapter 30 is a psalm of David, a song at the dedication of the temple.
Psalm chapter 30.
Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me. O Lord, be my helper.
You have turned for me my mourning into dancing. You have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.
O Lord, my God, I will give thanks to you forever.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Father, we praise you for this word. And we have much to thank you for, Father.
And we have much to praise you for.
And so we pray now that as we open up here to Psalm chapter 30 and hear this psalm of thanksgiving together,
we pray that our hearts would be filled with thankfulness and move to praise you as you deserve.
We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
You may be seated.
Amen.
If you ever want to be encouraged, spend some time reading some of the conversion stories of some of the great saints of Christian history.
As I read through Psalm 30 this week, I was reminded of Charles Spurgeon's conversion and the story, his testimony of God saving grace in his life.
And I want to read it to you. It's a little bit long, so be forewarned.
But I want you to hear it from his own words.
This is his account of how he came to know the Lord.
He writes,
I sometimes think I might have been in darkness and despair until now had it not been for the goodness of God and sending a snowstorm one Sunday morning while I was going to a certain place of worship.
I turned down a side street and came to a little primitive Methodist church.
In that chapel, there may have been a dozen, maybe 15 people.
And I had heard of those primitive Methodists, how they sang so loudly that they made people's heads ache.
But that did not matter to me. I wanted to know how I might be saved.
He said the minister did not come that morning. He was snowed up, I suppose.
And at the very last minute, a thin-looking man, a shoemaker, a tailor, something of the sort, went up into the pulpit to preach.
And he goes on to describe how this man probably wasn't too bright.
He wasn't educated, wasn't that smart.
And so he says he was obliged to stick to his text for the simple reason that he had very little else to say.
The text was this.
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 45, verse 22.
He says he did not even pronounce the words rightly, but that did not matter.
There was, I thought, a glimmer of hope for me in that text.
So the preacher began thus.
This is a very simple text indeed.
It says, look.
Now, look and don't take a great deal of pain.
It ain't lifting your foot or your finger.
It is just look.
Well, a man needn't go to college to learn to look.
You may be the biggest fool, and yet you can look.
A man needn't be worth a thousand a year to look.
Anyone can look.
Even a child can look.
But then the text says, look unto me.
I, he said in broad Essex, many on ye are looking to yourselves, but it's no use looking there.
You'll never find any comfort in yourselves.
Jesus Christ said, look unto me.
Look unto me, he said.
I am sweating great drops of blood.
Look unto me.
I am hanging on a cross.
Look unto me.
I am dead and buried.
Look unto me.
I rise again.
Look unto me.
I ascend to heaven.
Look unto me.
I am sitting at the Father's right hand.
Oh, poor sinner, look unto me.
Look unto me.
As Spurgeon says, when the man had managed to spin out about ten minutes or so, he was at the end of his tether.
And then he looked at me under the gallery.
And I dare say, with so few present, he knew me to be a stranger.
And just fixing his eyes on me, as if he knew my heart, he said, young man, you look very miserable.
Imagine that.
Well, I did, but I had not been accustomed to have remarks made from the pulpit on my personal appearance before.
However, it was a good blow struck right at home.
He continued, and you will always be miserable, miserable in life and miserable in death if you don't obey my text.
But if you obey now, this moment, you will be saved.
And lifting up his hands, he shouted, as only a primitive Methodist could do.
Young man, look to Jesus Christ.
Look.
Look to Jesus.
You have nothing to do but look and live.
Spurgeon says, I saw at once the way of salvation.
I know not what else he said.
I did not take much notice of it.
I was so possessed with that one thought.
I had come in waiting to do 50 things.
But when I heard that word, look, what a charming word it seemed to me.
Oh, I looked until I could have almost looked my eyes away.
There and then, the cloud was gone.
The darkness had rolled away.
And that moment, I saw the sun.
And I could have risen that instant and sung with the most enthusiastic of them,
of the precious blood of Christ and a simple faith which looks alone to him.
Oh, that somebody had told me this before.
Trust Christ and you shall be saved.
Don't you love to hear testimonies like that?
This is a testimony.
It's a story of somebody who has been rescued by a gracious God.
He's been plucked up out of the pit.
Our psalm this morning, Psalm chapter 30, is a testimony a little bit like this.
No, this isn't David's conversion story.
But it's a testimony nonetheless.
It's a story of the Lord rescuing David from some deep distress.
And here we see, just as with Spurgeon, the response of somebody who has experienced the saving grace of God.
What is it?
It's praise, worship, thankfulness, exaltation.
So we see it here in our passage.
Let's take a look.
And we'll see it in three parts this morning.
This will be our outline if you're taking notes this morning.
First, we see we are called to praise a God who delivers.
We are called to praise God who delivers.
Look there with me to verse 1.
David says in verse 1,
David gives three reasons here why he will praise the Lord.
First, he praises him because the Lord drew him up.
He protected him from his enemies.
He did not let his enemies rejoice over him.
That's one.
He praises him, second, because the Lord heard his prayer.
David cried out for help.
And the Lord healed him.
That's two.
And he praises him, third, because the Lord brought up his soul from Sheol.
That's the grave.
So whatever this distress was, we've seen time and time again as we've gone through the Psalms this summer.
It seems like David was again near to death.
But here the Lord intervened, rescued him, and restored him to life.
The Lord has acted in David's life in such a way as to bring this physical deliverance to David.
And it may be that you have experienced a similar type of deliverance before.
In fact, I know that many of you have shared with me stories, times, where the Lord has delivered you from some physical threat.
Maybe it's a diagnosis that had you scared and worried, but the Lord intervened and healed.
Maybe you had no clue how you were going to make ends meet for the month,
and yet somehow, sovereignly, there's this mysterious, in his own timing, in his own way,
he provides exactly what you need at the right moment.
Or maybe you have enemies like David had, trying to tear you down.
Co-workers, neighbors, friends, family members.
It looks like they are going to succeed, but at the last moment, their plans fall apart.
The Lord delivered from these physical threats.
But we know, don't we, of course, as wonderful as physical deliverance is,
that is a fraction of the greatness of the spiritual deliverance that God has brought us in Christ.
This salvation, this deliverance that David is experiencing here,
it finds its ultimate fulfillment, its true fulfillment,
in what God has done for all his people in Christ.
If you are in Christ by faith, what's happened to you is that you have been delivered,
you have been converted spiritually,
in a way that far surpasses any physical healing, monetary provision, relational restoration,
any sort of physical deliverance that we might desire.
The testimony of a Christian is what we read in Ephesians chapter 2.
We were dead in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, Paul says.
Following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that is now at work and the sons of disobedience,
among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh,
carrying out the desires of the body and the mind,
and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
even when we were dead in our trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ.
By grace you have been saved,
and raised us up with him,
and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches
of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
Church, the gospel is the good news that our God,
in sending forth his Son to live for us,
and to die for us,
and to rise for us,
to say to us,
look unto me and be saved.
God has raised us up with him above our enemies.
They will not rejoice over us.
He has heard our prayers for mercy.
He has healed us spiritually.
He has resurrected us spiritually.
He has rescued us from the pit of death.
He's restored us to life in Christ.
That's the testimony of a Christian.
I wonder if you can see yourself here in David's experience of deliverance.
David has been delivered,
and this personal, individual deliverance,
it leads to personal, individual praise, exaltation.
He praises the Lord who delivered him.
I wonder, does your heart praise God this morning
for the gospel of Christ?
Does your heart want to extol the Lord for what he's done for you
in sending Christ for you?
Do you have a testimony of his deliverance?
David does.
But it doesn't stop at the individual level, does it?
Look there to verse 4.
David's personal experience spills over into corporate praise.
Look there to verse 4.
David turns his attention now to the community of God's people.
He doesn't just keep this experience to himself, does he?
He instructs them, verse 4,
Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints.
Give thanks to his holy name.
For his anger is but for a moment,
and his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.
You know, there's a reason why God's people
are commanded to gather together,
as we're doing right now, this morning.
There is a reason why we're not just to remain
as individual, isolated, free agent Christians,
but we are called to come together
with God's people to join in with the church
and to worship the Lord together.
And we see it in Hebrews chapter 10.
He says,
Let us consider
how to stir one another up
to love and good deeds.
That's the command.
Let us consider
how we might stir one another up
to love and to good deeds.
How can we do that?
Well, he tells us,
Now, someone asked me this week,
what's the point of gathering together
with the church?
What's the point of joining a church?
Why can't we just be on our own,
individual Christians?
What's so bad about being a Lone Ranger Christian?
Our gathering together
has this horizontal,
one another dimension to it.
Yes, of course,
there's a personal,
vertical, individual element to it.
Yes, of course,
if God's worked in your life,
you individually respond with praise.
But that individual praise
spills over
into horizontal, corporate worship.
where we gather together
and encourage one another
and share God's work in our life
with one another.
We share our testimony
with one another.
We sing together.
We lift up our voices together
and praise him as one body.
We gather to stir one another up
and encourage one another.
I wonder if when you come together,
when you come to church,
is that on your mind?
Do you come together
with the purpose of encouragement?
Do you come looking for reasons,
looking for ways to encourage
your brother,
your sister in Christ?
Do you come ready to sing loudly?
Do you come ready to share
what God has done in your life?
Do others around you know your testimony?
Your story is not just
for your own individual benefit.
It is for corporate up-building.
The praise of God's people.
David here praises the Lord
who delivers
and then he calls God's people
to join him in that praise.
That's the popular message.
But here in verse 6 through 10,
second, David's going to give us
a less popular reason
to praise the Lord.
Okay?
That's the,
everybody might agree with that one.
Here's a little less popular.
Second,
we are called to praise God
who disciplines.
We are called to praise God
who disciplines.
Look there,
starting in verse 6.
It's like David sort of
has a flashback here
to what happened
before this deliverance
at the beginning of the psalm.
It's like he starts off
the psalm saying,
praise the Lord,
he's brought me up,
he's saved me,
but now,
let's back it up a little bit.
Let me tell you where I was.
Let me tell you
what was going on in my heart
before he did that rescuing
in my life.
Look at verse 6.
He says,
As for me,
I said in my prosperity,
I shall never be moved.
By your favor,
O Lord,
you had made my mountain
stand strong,
but you hid your face
and I was dismayed.
You hear the tone
of David's heart here?
David apparently
was puffed up with pride.
Do you hear what he said?
I shall never be moved.
He was prosperous
and successful.
He thought that all of his success
was stable.
He put his confidence
in himself
and as a matter of discipline,
the Lord hid his face.
You know,
there's some conversation,
some debate
on the background
of this psalm,
but I wonder if you realized
something peculiar
about the heading
at the top of the psalm.
Do you notice this?
Look back there
at the top of the psalm.
The context that we're given
is it says,
A Psalm of David,
a song at the dedication
of the temple.
Now,
what's so strange about that?
Think about it for a minute.
If you know your Bible,
you might recognize
that what's so strange
about that
is that David
wasn't around
for the dedication
of the temple,
was he?
David,
as a matter
of the Lord's discipline
in his life,
because he was a man
of blood,
we're told,
he was not permitted
to build the temple.
Solomon,
his son,
would build it.
So what's going on here?
Well,
my belief
is actually
what our friend Spurgeon
believed
about this psalm,
which is that David
was writing this psalm
prophetically
for that moment
of the dedication
of the temple.
And he's writing this psalm
not for his own sake,
but for his son Solomon
to teach Solomon
and us
that there is great benefit
in the discipline
of the Lord.
As if to say,
don't be prideful
like me.
I wasn't permitted
to build this temple
because of my sin.
Don't fall into
the same patterns
of sinful boasting
and pride as I did.
And if you do,
don't despise
the discipline
of the Lord
because look at where
it ultimately brought me.
It brought me
to this place
of humble thanksgiving,
a humble praise,
a humble prayer.
You realize
it is good for God
to discipline
his children.
And the end result
of that discipline
is praise.
Has the Lord
ever humbled you?
Has the Lord
ever brought you
low?
Has the Lord
ever taken
something away
from you
in order to
reorient your trust
around him
and not his gifts?
If so,
as painful
as that is,
praise God.
What a kindness
that is
for him to do
that for his children.
Y'all may know
there's a trend
called gentle parenting.
Y'all ever heard
that term?
This is kind of
an aside here.
As I understand it,
gentle parenting
is instead of
speaking in the negative,
right,
like stop doing that.
Don't hit your brother.
Don't run
in the street.
Instead of talking
like that,
that's too harsh.
That's too negative.
Instead of doing that,
they try to replace it
with the positive.
Let's hug our brother,
right?
Now let's say nice,
run in the yard
instead of the street,
please.
And it's a teamwork
based approach.
So you and your kid
are equals
and you work together
to keep each other happy.
You don't always have
to take the lead
as the parent.
Sometimes a kid
can take the lead
and you just,
you work together.
I'll tell you,
I got,
in my limited experience
as a parent,
y'all can probably
affirm this too,
no is a perfectly
appropriate word
a lot of the time.
Amen?
Right?
No is a good word
to teach your children
a lot of the time
and it is okay
if your child
is not happy
for a moment
if that temporary
discipline
redirects them
to something
that is actually
good for them.
You understand?
Some people think
that God loves us
so much
he would never
take anything
from us.
He's not a God
of no,
he's a God
of yes.
He'd never do anything
to make us upset.
He'd never do anything
to hurt our feelings
and make us sad
for a moment.
Friend,
that could not be
further from the truth.
God loves you
so much
that he is
willing to do
whatever it takes
to fix your heart's
affections
entirely on him.
He loves you
so much
that he will
refine you
often through trial.
He loves you
so much
that he will
sanctify you.
He will make you
like Christ
often
through the most
challenging moments
of your life.
He loves you
so much
that if there's
pride in your heart
like there was
in David's heart here
he will turn
his face away
and humble you
so that you
call out to him
in faith
for mercy.
He loves you
so much
that as a loving
father he will
discipline his
children for sin
in their life.
Hebrews chapter 12
tells us
my son do not
regard lightly
the discipline
of the Lord
nor be
wary when
reproved by him
for the Lord
disciplines the
one he loves
and chastises
every son
whom he receives.
It is for
discipline that
you have to
endure.
God is treating
you as sons
for what son
is there whom
his father
does not
discipline.
If you are
left without
discipline in
which all
have participated
it is a
different time
back then
then you are
illegitimate
children and
not sons.
Besides this
we have had
earthly fathers
who disciplined
us and we
respected them.
Shall we not
much more be
subject to the
father of spirits
and live?
For they
disciplined us
for a short
time as it
seemed best to
them but he
disciplines us
for our good
that we may
share his
holiness.
For the
moment all
discipline seems
painful rather
than pleasant
but later it
yields the
peaceful fruit
of righteousness
to those who
have been
trained by
it.
David here
is disciplined
for his
pride.
Hear the
posture of his
heart.
I shall never
be moved.
In my
prosperity I
said I
shall never
be moved.
I wonder if
you have that
same posture
towards anything
in your life.
what is it
that you're
tempted to
put your
pride, put
your trust
in rather
than the
Lord?
Some of us
may be tempted
to trust in
our bank
account, our
401k.
We say in
our prosperity
I shall never
be moved.
This will
always be
there.
You remember
the 2018
crash?
How many
people thought
they were
secure only
to have
everything
wiped out
almost
instantly?
Some of
us trust
in political
stability.
My
candidate's
in office
everything's
okay,
everything's
stable,
everything's
great,
I will
never be
moved,
give it
time.
Every four
years there's
a shake
up isn't
there?
Maybe you're
tempted to
trust in
the life that
you've built
for yourself,
your job,
your home,
your family.
Jobs can be
lost,
homes can be
destroyed,
families can be
destroyed.
Let's be
reminded church
that we are
called as
God's people
to put our
whole trust
in something,
in someone
that cannot
be taken
away from
us.
We are
called to
humbly put
our full
faith in
the Lord.
God
disciplines
the one
he loves
and the
result of
that discipline
in our
life is
that he
strips away
every idol
of the
heart as
painful as
it may
be and
leads us
to cling
to him.
Look there
to verse
seven.
David says
that God
hid his
face from
him and
he was
dismayed.
So the
result,
he cries
out to
the Lord
in faith.
He prays
this prayer
of desperation.
He throws
himself into
the arms
of the
Lord,
which is
exactly
where he
needs to
be.
To you,
O Lord,
I cry
and to
the Lord
I plead
for mercy.
What
profit is
there in
my death?
If I go
down to
the pit,
will the
dust praise
you?
Will it
tell of
your
faithfulness?
Hear,
O Lord,
and be
merciful to
me.
Here's a
dangerous
prayer to
pray.
Okay?
You ready?
Lord,
do whatever
you have to
do to
make me
like Christ.
Be careful
praying a
prayer like
that.
Lord,
take
whatever
you have
to take
to lead
me to
cling to
you in
full
dependence.
Lord,
shatter
the pride
of my
heart
so that
I love
you and
trust you
and honor
you and
depend on
you and
worship you
as you
deserve.
Have you
ever prayed
a prayer
like that?
David
desires to
praise the
Lord as
a result of
the discipline
in his
life.
That's
exactly what
he does
here at
the end
of our
psalm,
verses 11
and 12.
Here we
see our
final call,
third.
We are
called to
praise God
who deserves
all praise.
Look at the
fruit of this
discipline in
David's life.
He praises
the Lord
who has
turned his
mourning
into dancing.
He praises
the Lord
who has
loosed
his sack
cloth and
clothed him
with gladness
that his
glory may
sing God's
praise and
not be
silent.
O Lord
my God,
he says,
I will
give thanks
to you
forever.
This is a
picture of
total praise,
isn't it?
This is
praise that
involves all
of David.
That's what it
means when he
says,
my glory
will praise
you.
This is his
entire self
inside and
out,
body and
soul.
This is the
response of
worship that
involves all
of him.
He's moved
internally to
thankfulness.
How is that
demonstrated?
He sings
and he
dances.
He's clothed
internally
with gladness.
How is that
seen?
He changes
his clothes.
He takes
off his
sackcloth.
There's an
internal and
external element
of worship
here.
It is all
encompassing,
body and
soul.
It's all
of him.
When I
make my
coffee in
the morning,
I boil
water in
a kettle.
I pour
it in.
I know
the water
is hot
inside when
the lid on
the outside
starts to
dance.
There's
some steam
coming out.
Then what's
inside doesn't
pour itself
out until
the whole
body is
bent over.
There's a
necessary
demonstration.
The external
has to work
with the
internal for
the whole
thing to
work.
You and
I are
made body
and soul.
God made
us this
way, body
and soul.
Both body
and soul
are meant
to engage
the Lord
in worship.
Sometimes
just the
external
expression
is empty.
Sometimes
it's just
a show.
I'm not
saying do
that.
Sometimes
if the
insides
are boiling
over with
thankfulness
to the
Lord,
you can't
help but
just do
something
with your
body.
I wonder
if you
sit in
silence
when you
come and
gather with
God's
people or
if you
use your
voice and
you sing
out loudly
with thankful
hearts to
God.
Do you
ever lift
your hands
in worship?
I know
that might
seem strange
at first.
It might
feel a little
strange at
first.
It might
feel unnatural.
Do you
ever get
down on
your knees
and pray?
Or lay
flat,
outstretched,
don't fall
asleep,
be careful.
Do you
ever lay
yourself out
and pray
to the
Lord?
Do you
ever nod
your head
as you
hear God's
word preached?
Do you
ever say
amen when
you hear
something you
agree with?
All of
this is
okay,
church.
We are
made body
and soul.
That internal
thankfulness
ought to boil
over and
spill out
of us.
David here
responds with
singing and
dancing and
thankfulness to
the Lord.
He responds
by worshiping
that involves
all of him.
Not only
this, he
responds with
praise for
all to
hear.
My glory
will sing
your praise
and not be
silent.
His praise
is an audible
praise,
isn't it?
Others can't
actually hear
it.
Others can
hear him
singing of
what God
has done.
We've seen
this application
a few times
already,
haven't we?
God's people
are called,
commanded even,
to sing
praise to
the Lord.
God's people
are commanded
to sing.
Why do we
come and we
sing songs
every Sunday?
It's not just
because that's
what we like
to do,
although we
do like
to do it.
It's because
God has
commanded us
to sing.
Not everybody
needs to sing
into a
microphone,
right?
Amen?
But we
are all
commanded
to sing.
Paul tells
us in
Ephesians,
we're called
to address
one another
in psalms
and hymns
and spiritual
songs,
singing and
making melody
to the Lord
with your
heart,
giving thanks
always and
for everything
to God the
Father in the
name of our
Lord Jesus
Christ.
That internal
thankfulness is
expressed,
it's heard,
it's out loud,
it's boiled
over and
spilled out
together in
singing.
It's praise
for all of
him, it's
praise for
all to
hear and
lastly,
verse 12,
we see this
is praise
for all
time, he
says in
verse 12,
O Lord
my God,
I will
give thanks
to you
forever.
here's the
good news
church,
no matter
what comes
into your
life,
no matter
what trial,
no matter
what hardship,
no matter
what discipline,
no matter
how low
you are
brought,
no matter
what threat,
no matter
what danger,
no matter
what sickness
or temptation,
God's
redeemed
people will
spend the
rest of
eternity
giving
thanks to
the Lord
for who
he is
and what
he's done
for us
in Christ.
Do you
look forward
to that?
This
gathering is
a foretaste,
is a sample
of what
eternity has
in store
for God's
redeemed
people.
Paul tells
us in
chapter 2
of Philippians
that Jesus
though he
was in the
form of
God,
did not
count
equality
with God
a thing
to be
grasped,
but emptied
himself
by taking
the form
of a
servant,
being born
in the
likeness
of men
and being
found in
human form
he humbled
himself
by becoming
obedient to
the point
of death,
even death
on the
cross.
Therefore,
God has
highly exalted
him and bestowed
on him the name
that is above
every name
so that at
the name of
Jesus
every knee
should bow
in heaven
and on earth
and under
the earth
and every tongue
confess
that Jesus
Christ
is Lord
to the
glory
of God
the Father.
How much
do we have
to be thankful
to the Lord
for,
for what he's
done in
Christ?
Christ is
the one
who went
down to
the pit
and was
raised up
for us
so that
all who
call to him
in faith,
though we
may fail
like David,
though we
may temporarily
be disciplined
for our sin,
all who are
united to
Christ by
faith,
have the
promise of
everlasting
life,
eternal
joy,
glory.
This great
reversal that
David experiences
from mourning
to dancing,
from sackcloth
to gladness,
from weeping
in the night
to joy in the
morning,
that is true
for all who
trust in
Christ.
Christ,
how do we
respond to
a hope like
this,
church?
We respond
with total
praise,
because he
deserves all
praise and
glory forever
and ever.
Amen.
Charles Spurgeon
wrote about
that day of
his conversion.
He said,
that happy
day when I
found the
Savior and
learned to
cling to his
dear feet
was a day
never to be
forgotten by
me.
I listened
to the
word of
God,
and that
precious
text led
me to
the cross
of Christ.
I can
testify that
the joy of
that day
was utterly
indescribable.
I could
have leaped,
I could
have danced,
and there
was no
expression,
however
fanatical,
which would
have been
out of
keeping with
the joy
of that
hour.
He says,
I thought
I could
have sprung
from the
seat in
which I
sat,
and have
called out
with the
wildness of
those Methodist
brothers,
I am
forgiven.
I am a
monument of
grace.
I am a
sinner saved
by blood.
My spirit
saw its
chains broken
to pieces.
I felt that I
was an
emancipated
soul,
an heir of
heaven,
a forgiven
one accepted
in Jesus
Christ,
plucked out
of the
miry clay
and out
of the
horrible pit,
with my feet
set upon a
rock and my
goings
established.
between
half past
ten o'clock
when I
entered that
chapel and
half past
twelve o'clock
when I was
going back
home,
what a
change had
taken place
in me,
simply by
looking to
Jesus.
I had been
delivered from
despair and I
was brought
into such a
joyous state
of mind that
when they all
saw me back
at home,
they said to
me,
something
wonderful has
happened to
you.
I was eager
to tell them
all about it.
Oh, there was
joy in the
household that
day when all
heard that the
eldest son had
found the
Savior and
knew himself to
be forgiven.
That's Spurgeon's
story.
Friend, do you
have a story like
that to tell?
Has the Lord
delivered you?
If so, friend,
give thanks,
sing,
and rejoice,
and if not,
friend, look
unto Christ.
Look unto
Christ.
Look unto
Christ and
give him all
praise.
Let's pray.
Father,
we have so
much to be
thankful for
for your work
in our life.
We thank you
for delivering
us.
We thank you
even for
disciplining us
at times.
Lord, we
confess that
you are worthy
of all praise
and yet our
efforts to
praise you are
often so feeble
and half-hearted.
Lord, would you
work thankfulness
in our hearts
for who you
are and what
you've done.
I pray this in
Christ's name.
Amen.
Thank you.