OPEN: Years ago, there was a popular song called “Big Yellow Taxi”, by Joni Mitchell. In the chorus was this memorable line:
“Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got, till it’s gone.”
You don’t know what you’ve got… till it’s gone.
You know, there is so much in our lives as Americans that we take for granted.
When I go home tonight, I’ll enter my house and turn on a light switch… and light up the room. I can open my refrigerator and there are all kinds of foods to eat and things to drink. When I get up in the morning, I can step into my shower and turn on the water and stand under hot water for a long time (and I do). And then I can get dressed, and go out and get into my car and drive on down the road anywhere I want to go. And when I run out of gas… I can pull into a gas station and fill up again.
I tend to just take those things for granted.
But that hasn’t been the way things have gone in New York and New Jersey. When Hurricane Sandy slammed into their coastline, everything you and I take for granted disappeared for those folks.
Houses were destroyed.
The electricity grid went off line leaves thousands without power.
Emergency supplies dwindled and disappeared.
Even drinkable water was in short supply
And gasoline… good luck finding any of that.
Gas stations either ran out of gas… or they had gas, but they had no power to pump it out of their tanks. Long lines developed at many stations … and one woman even ran out of gas waiting in line to get gas.
Some people just parked their cars in front of stations and made arrangements with the gas station owner would text them when a tanker was to arrive.
This was very upsetting for most people. They’d grown used to just driving up to the pump and getting gas when they needed it. But when they couldn’t anymore – tempers rose and fistfights broke out.
Most folks didn’t know what they had… until it was gone.
But then, there were other folks who knew what they had and what others wanted. So, they offered to help out - for a price. The average price of gasoline in New York is about $3.95 per gallon but with gas in such short supply, craigslist carried some of the following offerings:
· One ad offered 5 gallons for $75, or they’d deliver it for $90 ($15 per gallon)
· Another ad had 5 gallon jugs of gas for $100 ($20 per gallon)
· And still another one offered 10 gallons for $300, with free delivery ($30 per gallon)
Sometimes you don’t know what you’ve got… till its gone.
And so, Psalm 103 David starts out praising God, and then it says:
“Praise the LORD, O my soul, and FORGET NOT all his benefits” Psalm 103:2
If we forget any of God’s benefits…
If we forget the blessings He’s given to us…
We can end up being ungrateful and taking what we have for granted
ILLUS: We can become like the woman who walked into a grocery store a day before Thanksgiving and was very upset with the size of the turkeys that were left.
She turned to the stock boy and asked snippishly, "Don’t these turkeys get any bigger?"
To which he calmly replied, "No ma’am. They’re dead!”
That woman had more food in front of her, than most 3rd world countries would ever see. And yet, she grew angry because
What she saw wasn’t good enough.
What she saw wasn’t BIG enough.
And she had every intention of letting the stock boy know she was unhappy.
You know, if you don’t get into the habit of thanking God for what you DO have, you’ll soon become ungrateful because of what you DON’T have.
ILLUS: Back in 1988, a Polish railway worker named Jan Grzebski was hit by a train.
He lived. But only barely.
For the next 19 years (until the year 2007), Grzebski was in a coma.
He awoke in 2007 to a whole new world.
19 years earlier, Poland was a communist state.
Grzebski noted that back then meat was rationed and there were huge lines at nearly every gas station. And, “there was only tea and vinegar in the shops”
But 19 years later-he awoke to a free nation where – he said – there were “people on the streets with cell phones and there are so many goods in the shops it makes my head spin.”
But something puzzled him. "What amazes me is all these people who walk around with their mobile phones and yet they never stop moaning."
These people had freedom, and food and wealth greater than Poland had had for decades… and yet Grzebski woke from his coma to find that ALL they seemed to want to do was grumble!
If you don’t get into the habit of thanking God for what you DO have you’ll soon become ungrateful because what you DON’T have.
And so Psalm 103 says: get into the habit of being thankful… NOW!
Get into the habit of NOT FORGETTING what God has given you.
(PAUSE)
So what kind of things has God given you?
The Bible says we should give thanks for ALL things.
ILLUS: The story is told of the Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte. He was known as a man who always found something to be thankful for.
One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, "Certainly the preacher won’t think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this."
Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, "We thank Thee, O God that it is not always like this."
(PAUSE)
So, the Bible says we should be thankful for ALL things.
And let me raise the question I asked a couple of moments ago: what kind of things has God given you? I want to spend a couple of moments and think of at least 5 things you can be thankful for. (I said nothing for a little while)
Now, I want some of you to share one of the things on your list.
What was one of the things that you were thankful for? (several people responded)
For the most part, you answered as I would have.
You were thankful for tangible things, like your family, your home, your job, or this church.
But as I looked thru Psalm 103, I noticed that David wasn’t thanking God for things we might. Not once in that entire Psalm does David ever speak of something “tangible”. By “tangible” I mean something you could touch, or hold, or look at with your eyes.
But - not once in that entire Psalm do we hear David give thanks for …
· his family,
· his home,
· his possessions,
· his job.
But that’s what I’d do if I were giving thanks to God.
I’d give thanks to God for my loved ones, my home, my jobs, this church. I’d give thanks for the fact that I can sing and preach, that I’m in fairly good health. And I go on and on trying to remember all his benefits God’s given me.
But David doesn’t do it that way.
No. David DOESN’T give thanks for the things most people would give thanks for
Instead, he praises God because his God has…
· forgiven all his sins
· healed all his diseases
· redeemed his life from the pit
· crowned him with love and compassion,
· and satisfied his desires with good things so that his youth was renewed like the eagle’s.
Now the question that came into my mind as I studied this Psalm was this: Why?
Why would David focus on THESE things rather than stuff you and I might be grateful for.
And the conclusion I came to was this:
I can’t lose these things.
And the world can’t take those things away.
I can lose my loved ones, my home, my church, my ability to sing or preach. But I CANNOT lose the things David wrote about in Psalm 103.
Jesus said exactly the same thing in the Sermon on the Mount:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
So, David is telling us in Psalm 103 that HIS treasures are laid up in heaven.
What kind of treasures was David talking about?
Well, David says his greatest treasure is that God loves him and has compassion on him. That’s the one foundational truth that makes all the difference to him.
Now David acknowledged that neither he – nor any of the rest of us – are worthy of God’s love. Our “… days are like grass, (we) flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. Psalm 103:15-16
We’re not all that impressive.
We’re fragile and easily forgotten.
AND God knows that.
God knows we’re fragile.
“As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:13-14
God knows HOW we’re formed.
He was the one who formed us from the dust of the earth (He remembers we are dust).
But when God formed us from that dust He formed us in His image/ likeness.
You see, the Bible tells us that you and I are a special creation by God. YES, we are fragile and we are easily forgotten by this world… but God will never forget us!!!
He “… crowns you with love and compassion” Psalm 103:4b
Someone once observed.
“God loves you so much, that if He had a refrigerator, it would have a picture of you on it.”
And God loves you so much - that David says:
· He “…redeems your life from the pit…” Psalm 103:4a
· And “…satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” Psalm 103:5
As we read through the Bible we see the stories of men and women who spent time in pits.
· Jeremiah was thrown into a literal pit where he sank into the muck up to his armpits
· As was Daniel when he was thrown into a pit we know of as the lion’s den.
· Then there was Joseph, whose brothers threw him into a pit with then intention of killing him… but then changed their minds and sold him into slavery in Egypt
Those were literal pits that God rescued them from. But were other “pits” that weren’t so literal, but were equally as depressing.
· David spent several years running from King Saul.
· Moses spent 40 years in exile from Egypt.
· And Ruth spent a number of years in poverty.
And each and every story about these heroes/heroines of faith told of how God reached down into the holes those people found themselves in and then pulled them up and out of that pit and placed them on solid ground.
And David says that – what God did for those people – He’ll do for you and me.
ILLUS: Several years back, someone conducted a survey of people who prayed and they found that 95% of these people felt God had answered their prayers. 95% of those who prayed believed that God had reached down into their PIT and pulled them out.
David KNEW that God loved him that much.
And so do we… that’s why the words of another Psalm of David speaks so strongly to us.
“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.” Psalm 23
We know – just like David did – that God loves us and cares for us.
And we know that as we walk with God, He will lead us, restore us, and protect us (Ps 23)
We know that God meets our physical needs on this earth.
But just like David… we know that’s not enough.
Jesus said: “What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Mark 8:36 KJV
You can be wealthy beyond the dreams of avarice, healthy as a horse and wise as Solomon and still go to hell.
Unless our sins are dealt with… we’ll be cut off from God…
And unless sour sins are forgiven, we’ll never know the blessings of living eternally in heaven.
And so David tells us “YES… God is willing to take care of that too.”
He “forgives all your sin” (vs. 3)
“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:10-12
As far as the East is from the West.
Now, that an interesting comment.
Do you know how far the East is from the West?
ILLUS: Let’s pretend that we’re all going to go on a trip. We’ve rented some buses and we’re going to take a trip North. We travel up US 31 until we reach Michigan and stop for a few snacks and to fill up the buses and head out again. Eventually we reach Canada, and after a few days we reach the Arctic Circle. How far North can we go until we’re not going north any more? At what point do we stop “going North?” (The North Pole.) \
As soon as we hit the North Pole, everything from that point on is SOUTH.
Now, lets change that. Let’s say we decide to take a trip as far West as we can go. We get in our buses and travel through Illinois, Iowa, Idaho, Utah and eventually reach California. Then we get on a plane that flies due west and determine to fly as far west as we can go.
Now, how long can we travel before we stop going west?
We can’t can we?
We can go as far west as we like… and we’ll never start going East. We can go on and on and on and we’ll still be going West.
That’s how far the East is from the West.
Now, why didn’t God say He would remove our sins from us as far as the North is from the South? He could have you know.
But if He’d said that… He would be telling us that there would be a point at which He would stop forgiving us. Where He’d stop WANTING to forgive us.
But that’s not true.
God loves us and cares for us so much that He will never reach that point.
When He forgives us – He removes our sins as far from us as the East is from the West.
He will remember them no more.
That is the God that we serve.
A God who loves us SO much that He’s not only willing to meet our physical needs… but a God who loved us so much that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever would believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
But there are people in this world who don’t want Jesus to be their Savior. There are people in this world who believe that their goal in life is to be healthy, wealthy and wise --- and to die at the ripe old age of 100 or so. Jesus doesn’t fit into that equation for them.
And these folks tend to look at others who don’t reach that goal as poor and underprivileged.
CLOSE: Several months ago we had a team from our church take part in a short-term mission’s trip to Haiti. When they arrived, they were shocked at the abject poverty in which the people there lived. Most of the people there have little in the way of “personal property” (in fact, it’s a privilege when one of them has a suitcase… so they can store what few items they own in it). Homes are generally ramshackle affairs that are smaller than a really small bedroom. There’s little food to be had and little work that a person can do for money.
Those whose goal is to have all the health, wealth and wisdom they can acquire would look on these in Haiti with pity for all that they lack. But when Dave (one of our Elders) returned from Haiti, he made mention of something a Haitian evangelist had told him:
“There are people in this world that say we are poor people here. But no one is poor who has Jesus.”
And Dave noted that those associated with the wisdom – though they are poor by this world’s standards – were cheerful and smiling. Why? Because they loved Jesus and knew He loved them.
So, the question for you this morning is this? Are you rich by the standards of this world, but without Christ in your life? You can know God’s forgiveness and love today if you follow these 5 simple steps.
1. BELIEVE that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God, and that He died on the cross for your sins. (John 3:16)
2. But that belief should lead you to the next step: acknowledging that is for YOUR sins that He died. That you need to REPENT of those sins – determine not to live like that anymore. (Acts 3:19)
3. And that decision should be because you are willing to CONFESS Jesus as your Lord and Master. To give Him control of all your life and your possessions. (Romans 10:9)
4. Then you need to seal the deal. Sign the contract. Allow yourself to buried in the waters of BAPTISM and rise up a new creature in Christ (Romans 6:1-6)
5. And from that day on determine to live for Jesus every day of your life.
INVITATION
