Giving Thanks at the Remembrance of His Holy Name

Thanksgiving Service | Sunday 14/12/2014

Giving Thanks at the remembrance of His holy Name

Psalms 97: A Song of Praise to the Sovereign LORD

¹     The LORD reigns; Let the earth rejoice; Let the multitude of isles be glad!

²     Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

³     A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about.

⁴     His lightnings light the world; The earth sees and trembles.

⁵     The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

⁶     The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory.

⁷     Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods.

⁸     Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments, O LORD.

⁹     For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰   You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

¹¹   Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.

¹²            Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name - NKJV

Introduction

As we look over our shoulder at this year I think for us as a church-plant still in its inception the only reality that kept us going is that the God that called us is Holy.

He has burdened us with a Gospel ministry that will not compromise His Holiness.

We want to say like Paul said to the Corinthian church:

2Co 4:2  But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.

It is therefore appropriate, that while we are gathering to give thanks to God that we consider the verses in Psalms 97, particularly verse 12.

¹²            Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name

But before we get there…

It is interesting to note that in the previous Psalm (Psalms 96) the whole earth is summoned to: “sing to the LORD a new song; to bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation; Declare His glory among the nations.”

All these actions can only come from a thankful heart that has been transformed in an intimate way by a great and Living God!

The Psalm is really a song of praise to God. Allow me to read a few verses from Psalm 96.

Psalms 96

⁹     Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth.

¹⁰   Say among the nations, "The LORD reigns; The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved; He shall judge the peoples righteously."

¹¹   Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;

¹²   Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice

¹³            before the LORD. For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.

What is interesting to me is the way this Psalm ends: “For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with righteousness, And the peoples with His truth.”

It would almost seem like the Psalm ends with a declaration of the coming of the Lord to judge the earth… we see then in Psalm 97 (the first 5 verses) a description of what that coming of the Lord looks like.

Psalm 97

²     Clouds and darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.

³     A fire goes before Him, And burns up His enemies round about.

⁴     His lightnings light the world; The earth sees and trembles.

⁵     The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, At the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

Why is this important?

Because in today’s modern age we’ve reduced God to the stature of man and made man into the image of a god. We think God is made in our image!

A god that is made is not God and a god that is made in any image is an idol!

These verses describe the greatness and fierceness and holiness of the Almighty God.

·         This verse destroys any notion of a man that thinks himself a little god [Job 38:4 – where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?]

·         or the arrogance of those who think they can command God like He is some genie trapped in a bottle that does whatever your heart desires as long as you rub him the right way. [Eph 1:11 – God works out all things according to the counsel of His own will]

Today people live as if there will never be a Day of Reckoning - But God is Coming!

I pray that when He comes He will find thischurch [RFM] to be a faithful contender for the Holiness of God.

Let us now turn our attention to a few verses in Psalm 97:

⁷     Let all be put to shame who serve carved images, Who boast of idols. Worship Him, all you gods.

⁸     Zion hears and is glad, And the daughters of Judah rejoice Because of Your judgments, O LORD.

⁹     For You, LORD, are most high above all the earth; You are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰   You who love the LORD, hate evil! He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.

¹¹   Light is sown for the righteous, And gladness for the upright in heart.

¹²            Rejoice in the LORD, you righteous, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name - NKJV

v7. Carved images, who boasts of idols

·         This reminds us of the golden calf in Exodus 32.

·         After God moved with powerful signs and wonders to deliver His people out of Egypt – [10 plaques, pillar of fire by night and cloud by day, crossing the Red sea on dry land, manna from heaven, water out of a rock]

·         They still made a god for themselves of their own imagination. A god that they would be pleased with.

·         They wanted a god whom they could command – “who would go before them”

·         They ascribed their deliverance to this idol that they set up for themselves

·         They boasted in a lie – Rom 1:25 They changed the truth of God into a lie

·         Their thanksgiving was not at the remembrance of His holy Name

Exo 32:4  And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"

Rom 1:21  For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

v8. Zion hears and is glad, and the daughters of Judah rejoice because of Your judgments

·         Zion is glad because of His coming… Zion is a reference to the City of God and the people of God

(Why?) What are the benefits of His coming?

·         We shall receive the full benefits of Christ’s redemptive work on the Cross – free from sin, shame, pain, death, etc. [1Cor15:53]

·         We shall be rewarded – Rev 22:12 I come quickly and My reward is with Me

Rev 22:12  And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

2Co 5:10  For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

·         This rewarding is made possible through Christ’s redeeming work at the cross. This is not salvation, but rewards as we work out our salvation.

·         We shall be with the Lord – forever!

Joh 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

1Jn 3:2  Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

1Th 4:17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Are you looking forward to His coming? Are you thankful that He is coming back to take you with Him?

We are thankful because:

v9. You Lord are most high – exalted far above all gods

·         There is nothing impossible for our God

·         No higher authority than our God

·         Our God is sovereign and He is for us. Rom8:31 “If God is for us…”

Jer 32:27  Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?

Isa 46:8  "Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors,

Isa 46:9  remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,

Isa 46:10  declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, 'My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,'

Job 12:14  If he tears down, none can rebuild; if he shuts a man in, none can open.

Ecc 3:14  I perceived that whatever God does endures forever; nothing can be added to it, nor anything taken from it. God has done it, so that people fear before him.

v10a. You who love the Lord hate evil!

·         Thank you for changing our hearts from loving sin to hating sin

·         From hating God to loving Jesus

·         Prov 8:13 says “the fear of the Lord is hatred of evil!”

The sin I once loved I now hate and the righteousness I once hated I now love and continually desire.

1Jn 1:6  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

v10b. He preserves the souls of His saints – He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked

The word preserves is the Hebrew word שׁמר shâmar which means - to hedge about, that is, guard; generally to protect or attend to.

·         Thank you for your preservation regardless of our failures and sometimes blatant sins

·         Thanks for delivering us out of the hands of the wicked plots of the devil Ps.91:3 He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler…

·         Thanks for delivering us from the trouble we sometimes get ourselves into Matt 6:13 lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

Psa 121:7  The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul.

Psa 121:8  The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.

Joh 10:27  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

Joh 10:28  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Joh 10:29  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

Jud 1:24  Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,

Jud 1:25  to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

v11. Light is sown for the righteous – gladness for the upright

Sown – planted, flung, spread, scattered (a sower)

·         The picture here is that of a sower sowing seeds… in this case light.

God is the sower of light

·         Light speaks of that which is good. Jam 1:17 all good & perfect gift comes from the Father of Lights

·         Thank God that we do not walk in darkness anymore

·         We have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of light.

Col 1:12  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

Col 1:13  He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

Col 1:14  in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

1Pe 2:9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

God gives gladness for the upright

·         We thank God for giving us beauty for our ashes and joy for our mourning

Isa 61:3  To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous

·         We have reason to rejoice

·         Our God is coming! But while we are still here… we know He is with us and for us.

Give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name

I said in the beginning of this message that…

…the only reality that kept us going is that the God that called us is Holy and that He has burdened us with a Gospel ministry that will not compromise His Holiness.

God is holy, holy, holy! [Is 6:3, Rev 4:8]

To say that God is holy means there is no trace of evil in his character. He is separate and unique from all His creation. There is none like God!

·         He is without compromise or sin

·         There is no shadow of turning with Him – He never changes!

·         He has chosen us to be holy Eph 1:4.

·         He has called us to holiness 1Thess 4:7

·         Without holiness no one will see the Lord Heb 12:14

·         He commanded us not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. What communion has light with darkness? 2Cor 6:14

·         He commanded us to come out from among them (world) and to be separate! 2Cor 6:17

·         He said not to love the world or the things of the world. 1Joh 2:15

·         He gave us a Book that contains His breathed out Word that is the only authority and the only means by which we should live our lives and instruct the church. 2Tim 3:16

It is because we are constantly reminded of His holiness that we are what we are and do things the way we do it.

We want to say like the apostles:  in Acts 5:29 “we ought to obey God rather than men!

This is why we as Reformed Faith Mission give thanks at the remembrance of His Holy name!