How To Repay God

TITLE: HOW TO REPAY GOD

SCRIPTURE: PSALMS 116:12-14

As we continue to march through the month of November, our thoughts usually turn to a time of Thanksgiving and the month we celebrate the CHURCH ANNIVERSARY/HOMECOMING. It is a time of reflection on the past and evaluation of the present. We need to stop and think about the many ways that God has blessed us. Now you may not be thinking about that this morning. Many simply fail to think about what God has done.

The very use of the language found in our text “RENDERING TO GOD FOR ALL HIS BENEFITS TO ME” makes me nervous upon proper consideration.

• Rendering or Payback can so easily imply that Grace is like a mortgage

• It’s really generous, but you have to pay it back

Paul said in ACTS 17:25 “GOD IS NOT SERVED BY HUMAN HANDS, AS THOUGH HE NEEDED ANYTHING, SINCE HE HIMSELF GIVES TO ALL MANKIND LIFE AND BREATH AND EVERYTHING.” In other words, you can’t give anything to God or do anything for God that He hasn’t first given to you and done for you.

• PSALM 50:10 “FOR EVERY BEAST OF THE FOREST IS MINE, AND THE CATTLE UPON A THOUSAND HILLS”

• Everything we have, has been given to us by God

• So, what can we Render – What can we give to God?

So, in PSALM 116 what keeps the paying of vows free from the dangers of being treated like a debt payment is that the “Payment” is, in reality, not an ordinary payment, but another act of receiving which magnifies the ongoing Grace of God. It does not magnify our resourcefulness, but God’s.

The first thing we notice or should notice about this particular passage of scripture is that it is a personal statement.

• It doesn’t give direction as what you as a corporate body of believers should do

• It doesn’t make recommendation as to what the church should do

• It’s not even something that is required for salvation

• But it is personal

Because it is personal it calls for self examination. I CORINTHIANS 11:28 says “LET EVERY MAN EXAMINE HIMSELF…” This is a good time in the year as we face the final six weeks of this year to take our eyes off of one another and take a self inventory. The songwriter said it like this – count your many blessings name them one by one, count you many blessings see what the lord has done.

• Deceiving ourselves is easy and comfortable

• We want to believe ourselves better, smarter, and more ethical than we really are

• So careful, Spirit-directed self-examination keeps us honest with ourselves and with God

One difficulty with self-examination is that we do not always know our own hearts. JEREMIAH 17:9 -- “THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, AND DESPERATELY WICKED: WHO CAN KNOW IT?” True self-examination must be done with the Holy Spirit, who searches the deep things of the heart. The CHURCH OF LAODICEA was in sore need of self-examination, but they had a hard time seeing their problem: “YOU SAY, ‘I AM RICH; I HAVE ACQUIRED WEALTH AND DO NOT NEED A THING.’ BUT YOU DO NOT REALIZE THAT YOU ARE WRETCHED, PITIFUL, POOR, BLIND AND NAKED” -- REVELATION 3:17.

• The Psalmist says, “SEARCH ME, O GOD, AND KNOW MY HEART; TRY ME AND KNOW MY ANXIOUS THOUGHTS; AND SEE IF THERE BE ANY HURTFUL WAY IN ME, AND LEAD ME IN THE EVERLASTING WAY” (PSALM 139:23–24)

• The psalmist here admits that he does not even know whether his actions and motives are pure

• So, he invites the Lord, the Righteous Judge, to test him and reveal to him his own sin

Many of us have struggled with self-examination, therefore we also struggle with this question. “WHAT SHALL I RENDER UNTO THE LORD FOR ALL HIS BENEFITS TOWARD ME?” How are we to respond to God for the many blessings He has provided us? We know we could never repay Him for His graciousness in our lives, yet, God’s goodness calls for a response. It is good for us to reflect on how wonderfully blessed we are. The psalmist reminds us that God is the source of blessings. Far too many in our world fail to recognize where our many benefits originate.

• The Lord is the giver of every good gift

• JAMES 1:17 “EVERY GOOD GIFT AND EVERY PERFECT GIFT IS FROM ABOVE, AND COMETH DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHTS, WITH WHOM IS NO VARIABLENESS, NEITHER SHADOW OF TURNING”

• The air that we breathe is a gift from God

• He gives us strength and health

• We owe our ability to work or earn a living to Him