Giving Thanks in Crisis

Sermon at Nam Seoul Church

June 29, 2008

Psalm 40:1-5

Giving Thanks in Crisis

¹ I waited patiently for the LORD

He turned to me and heard my cry

² He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire

He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand

³ He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God

Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD

⁴ Blessed is the man who makes the LORD his trust,

Who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods

⁵ Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders you have done

The things you planned for us no one can recount to you;

Were I to speak and tell of them they would be too many to declare

Let us pray: Thank you Lord for this special moment to be with your word. May your Holy Spirit be upon me as well as the congregation and may this worship be pleased unto you, O God, my Savior, in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Introduction

It is my honor and great privilege for me to have this opportunity to share the word of God to all of you. I would like to use this opportunity to say thanks to my beloved professor Dr. Cho Hwi, for his teaching and guiding me through the pass three years. A Vietnamese proverb saying, King, Master and Father, this shows how we honor and respect our teachers. Thank you master. May God bless you, your family and your ministry abundantly.

I was invited to preach in two Sundays, and I am thinking how to convey a very important message in each Sunday. So I chose one in the Old Testament and one in the New. Both sermons will focus on our Christian life. Next Sunday we will study about the whole issue of eschatology or about the end time, or the second coming of Jesus and what should we do to keep watch.

Today we are listening to a portion of Psalm 40. Actually I will preach about the whole Psalm, however, the selected part is my emphasis.

When we talk about the Psalms or the Book of Psalm, we think of Psalm 23, “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want.” Psalm 1, Psalm 90, 100 and so on. We all are familiar with Psalm. We love the Psalm because they are all about our daily life.

We love the Psalm because we can share our emotion with the Psalmist, feeling with the Psalmist, sympathized by the words of the Psalters.

We read Psalm because we see there are Joy, Love, hope, Praising God, encouragement, delight in the law, salvation, zeal, confidence, gladness, and peace. Bless the Lord oh my soul! We feel very happy, and delight in worshiping God.

However, the Psalms also convey the message that touches our heart deeply. They touch our heart because we can identify ourselves in that situation, especially when we are in the situation of loneliness, of sorrow, discouragement and turmoil, regret because of sin, grief, pain, and brokenheartedness.

Today we will study one among them, that is Psalm 40. It is not a very famous one. Not everybody loves it. It is not interested enough to memorize. What is Psalm 40 about? Psalm 40 is song of lament, the author tries to convey a message to God that, Lord, please come and help me, please come, please don’t be delayed.

And this song stops at this moment without hearing any answer from the LORD. The Psalmist has been waiting for long time, yet the LORD is delayed. (Yet, I am poor and needy; may the Lord think of me. You are my help and my deliverer; O my God, do not delay. V.17).

According to scholars, Psalm 40 was probably written during the time of exilic and post exilic period. To me, I refer the psalmist as one of the kings during the pre-exilic period, and probably David is the author. Psalm 40 is a mixed type because it has element of thanksgiving and lament. Normally, in a mixed type Psalm the lament will be the first part, and then followed by thanksgiving. However this psalm is the other way round. The first part vs. 1-10 is about thanksgiving and second part vs.11-17 is about individual lament.

In psalm 40, the king is likely to be in the context of a military crisis. The king is in the situation of danger because the enemies are attacking. Death is threatening the life of the whole nation. Whether the kingdom will be delivered from the hand of the enemies or not, the king is the person who takes all responsibility. Even though, he had already cried out to God, but God kept silent. Now, he can do nothing but wait. In this situation of waiting and praying in tears for God’s help, the king wrote this psalm. His purpose is to lament to God. But before lamenting, He gives thanks to God for what God has done upon his life great things and he laments by asking for God’s help.

This Psalm is so real about life. Often times, when we pray and call upon God for help, He answered directly and immediately. Yet, many times, and often times, he keeps silent. How many times you and I have been waiting for the Lord and never receive any answers? Is God still there? What happens to You Lord? Where are you going? You promise to be with me always, yet now I need you most, where are you?

The Bible tells us to “give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” and “rejoice in the Lord always”. It is easy to give thanks to God when we are doing well, when our life is smooth, when we have enough food to eat, when we have enough money, good job, high mark in exam or when we are in love etc. But when we are jobless, broken relationship with friends and family members, our loved ones are sick or even pass away, enemies attack . . . how to give thanks to God whole-heartedly?

This morning I would like to focus only in vs. 1-5. While waiting, the psalmist Gives Thanks to God for the past deliverance (vs. 1-5)

There are three things that the psalmist does when he gives thanks to the LORD. First in vs. 1-3, he recalls the blessings that God has done for him. Second, he affirms his faith on God. And third, he praises the LORD.

1) Recalling God’s blessings. vs. 1-3.

The king recalls the marvellous deeds that God has done for him. That he waited patiently upon God asking for healing. The psalmist could have remembered on that day he was lying on the bed because he was suffering with an illness. V. 2 mentions about the slimy pit. The king may have experienced near death. He expected relief from no other than from God. Yet God did not answer him and the relief did not come quickly. Sometimes, we may have experienced like the psalmist. We cannot feel God or even experience his presence. We even thought God may have left us. The Bible tells us that the psalmist doubted not but kept on believing, hoping, waiting and praying patiently. And finally God delivered him from the severe sickness.

The description of vs.1 and 2, “he turned to me, heard my cry, he lifted me, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place”. These words emphasise of the saving acts and shows that God is indeed the Saviour.

V.3 describes the deliverance was the subject of a new song, a hymn of praise. God has given the psalmist a cause to rejoice and a new occasion for praise. The effect of God’s wonderful work was that many fear God and they learn to put their trust in God.

What do we learn from the psalmist when he recalls God’s blessings upon his life? When the psalmist recalls the blessings that God has done for his life, he implies that His God is truly the Saviour God. This becomes very meaningful for him in his present situation of waiting for God’s help. It affirms him again and again that the God he believes has the power to save him from the enemies and from danger.

How to give thanks to God in crisis? Why is this important? Normally, when we are in trouble or in crisis, we can only see problems and problems and we cannot remember what God has done for us in the past. What we do is to cry out to God asking for help urgently! We cry and ask but forget to give thanks. Certain times, we could have given thanks to God but just a general thanksgiving. What we can learn from the psalmist is that he recalled particular events. My brother and sisters, recall God’s blessing upon our lives. We can sit down and jot down what God has done in our lives. What was the problem that we faced? How did God saved us? By doing so, we are able to see the marvellous deeds that God has done and be encouraged to stand firm because we know for sure that Our God is the Saviour God.

2) Affirming his faith on God. v.4.

From recalling God’s blessings, the psalmist affirms that those who trust God are blessed. Those who do not trust God, the proud and with those who turn aside to false gods, “they are not blessed”. The statement in v.4 points first to the psalmist who is blessed by God when he put his trust in Him. Moreover, it implies that the psalmist will continue to choose to trust God rather than to follow other false gods. Why this affirmation is important? When we are in troubles or crisis, our faith is tested. We easily doubt God when our prayers are not answered. We are easily discouraged and do not trust God because we have been waiting for God so long. However, “by saying blessed be the man who make the Lord his trust”, the psalmist reveals that his God is the true God. At that time, among the Israelites, syncretism was popular. People worshipped many gods and did not believe Yahweh is the true God! The incident of Elijah and the Baal’ prophets was one of the examples. Therefore, affirming ‘Yahweh is the true God!’ will comfort the psalmist in the midst of crisis and encourage him to continue to trust God.

How to give thanks to God in crisis? Here we can learn from the psalmist to affirm our faith on God. That the God we believe is the true God. Therefore, trusting God means no turning right or left or back but moving forward. This affirmation helps us to continue put our trust in Him. However, failing to affirm that God is the true God will only bring us easily to the stage of tiredness, disappointment, and doubt God. Failing in trusting God, we will end up seeking earthly things, human power, human wisdom, and other things.

I learn this lesson from my in-laws. As you know that my wife Van had epilepsy. She and her family really went through a situation of troubles and crisis because her illness keeps recurring. Sometimes, she almost experienced near death. My in-laws kept praying for her and yet the sickness still stayed on. The neighbours who were not Christians looked at the whole situation told them that they were in bad luck. They should bring the daughter to the temple for prayer and get healed. And also they should invite the monk come to chase away the bad luck. However, my in-laws affirmed that the God they believed is the true God and continued to trust Him. They keep on praying for her and continue to wait upon God for healing. Our God is the true God, He answered their prayer. My wife is healed now and has no more epilepsy for the past 9 years.

3) Praising God for his great wonders. v.5.

In vs.5, the psalmist sees God’s deliverance as one more example of the innumerable wonders, which the LORD had done for him and his community. The wonders points to not only the present generation but also to their forefathers recorded in the book of the Law, and that related to the salvation history of Israel as a whole. The psalmist praises God because He has so many good things in their lives and so many other wonders so that no one can recount and two many to declare.

Vs. 1-4 the psalmist uses the first person in singular, but this verse the first person changes to plural form: “we”. He represents for a whole community and gives thanks to God, this shows that God has blessed them and not only one person but the whole community.

By giving thanks and praises to the LORD, the psalmist can see how God has been so faithful to their forefathers; He will be so to him and his community. It is the faithfulness of God that will keep him stand firm in crisis and continue to wait upon the LORD.

How to give thanks to God in crisis? Sing praises to God and worship Him. Thank God for the wonders and great things He has done for our family, our community. By singing and praising God, we will come to an understanding that our God whom we put our trust is actually a faithful God. If God has been so faithful to our forefathers, He will be so to us.

Psalm 103:

Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

Conclusion.

To conclude, psalm 40:1-5 teaches us a very good lesson on how to give thanks to God in crisis. Giving thanks to God in all circumstances is the process of learning and experience. We may fail doing it many times, but if we ask God to help us I am sure we will be able to please him. God wants us to thank Him so that he will use our problems to fulfil his purposes. Remembering God’s goodness will lay a foundation for us to continue to put our trust and hope in Him. I believe in God that through all the troubles, he will develop our characters to be more matured in Him.

How to give thanks to the LORD when we are downcast or suffering? (1) Look up to God, declare and recall the blessings God has done for us one by one. (2) Affirming our faith in Him that we will put our trust in Him alone. (3) And finally give thanks and sing praises to God for the great things He has done upon our lives. Through which, we assure that our God is the Saviour God, our God is the true God and our God is the faithful God. I would like to tell you my story how I failed to give thanks to God when I face difficulties and crisis.

The first semester in STM, was the most difficult time I ever had in Malaysia. We had to adjust ourselves in the new environment. I remember we faced a lot of troubles like food, sickness, visa, finance, cultural sock, communication, studying and so on. We cried to the Lord and asked why you put me in this place so that we have to suffer. If I knew all this I will never go and etc. I decided to stop and went back home at the end of the semester. Dr Walters and Dr Kok tried to talk to me and to help me out but they couldn’t because I already bought the ticket. Some of our friends here also knew about it. We went back home. And at home, God convicted us that we never give thanks to Him for what he had done upon our lives. In deed, we did not put our trust in God when we were in crisis. He reminded me how he blessed me and opened ways for me to go out of the country to study and many other blessings and yet we did not give thanks to Him. My wife and I kneel down and repented. We started to give thanks to God by recalling all the blessings He did in our lives. We put our trust in God. We affirmed that our God is the true God, so He will take care of us when we study in STM. We came back to STM for the second semester with a different perspective. From then on, we learnt to give thanks to God, continue to put our trust in God. And as a result, God never let us down in our needs but instead we receive many great blessings from Him until today. I would like you to sing together with me the song “Count your blessing”.

May God help us to continue trust Him, love Him and serve Him faithfully in all circumstances. Amen.