O Give thanks unto the Lord.
Psalm 107:1 “O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever.”
How can we count the mercies God has given us?
Mercy is God’s kindness to sinners.
Grace is God’s unmerited favor of power to us.
Hope is of the Holy Spirit….it is that confident expectation that God will do what He says.
Love is God’s Everlasting Arms around us, and working in us, for our good.
(There are temporal mercies: the sun, rain, and food, etc. which come on the good and the evil.
But spiritual mercies are for His elect…which have to do with Salvation…all the blessings in Christ.
The first time “merciful” is used, is when Lot is “taken by the hand” and lead out of the destruction of Sodom…..which is a picture of every man’s salvation: God takes us by the hand and saves us from the destruction of our sin.
Titus 3:4-6 “But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared,
Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by working of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior;”)
Psalm 86:3 “Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto Thee daily.”
The Lord shows us daily mercies…..again and again….He is there.
Psalm 106:1 “Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever.”
For His mercy, and all that He has done…..is doing….and certainly will ultimately do…….we should praise Him….
for without mercy we are lost….lost in our sin,…..but also lost in our many sorrows of this world.
We can become “mired” in the troubles and problems we have…
But His mercy comes along and lifts us out of all of them.
He reminds us of HIs might….is He not able? Of course.
He reminds us of His joy….is He not with us, and for us? And If He is for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
He gives us peace like a fortress. (Philippians 4:7)
Psalm 94:18 “When I said, My foot slippeth; Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.”
Psalm 105:1 “O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon His name: make known His deeds among the people.”
Isaiah 63:7 “I will mention the lovingkindness of the Lord, and the praises of the Lord, according to all that the Lord hath bestowed on us,….”
Praising the Lord should always come when we receive answers to our prayers. It is His due, of course,……but it also helps us.
“I will mention the lovingkindness of the Lord”…
It is a way to grow in grace and in the knowledge of God….by the retelling of the “adventure” and the deliverance of the Lord, for us.
It encourages us now….in what ever is going on…so we will continue to trust and hold on to Him.
It helps us for tomorrow…..it nerves us for the coming storms……for we never know what a day will bring….but we can know our God.
Daniel 11:32 “….but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.”
Not only so……but our testimony of deliverance, comforts others who might be going through some of the same situations.
Ps 89:1 “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever: with my mouth will I make known Thy faithfulness to all generations.”
O give thanks unto the Lord…..thanking the Lord should be as exhaling…..for as we breath in His many blessings…..we should breath out His many praises.
Paul was eminently the Apostle of “thanks unto the Lord”….
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)
“Now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savor of His knowledge by us in every place.” (2 Corinthians 2:14)
“But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care in the heart of Titus for you.” (2 Corinthians 8:16)
“In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
1 Timothy 2:1 “I exhort therefore, that, first of all supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;”
Hebrews 13:15 “By Him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His Name.”
I started this with….”How can we count the mercies God has given us?”
We can not….they are without number….like the stars in the night sky.
But they all center in our blessed Lord Jesus Christ…..Who is the sum and substance of our blessings.
2 Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.”
Preaching, Teaching, and Notes 