“Wanderer. Rebel. Fool. Everyday People”
2015 Summer Series: A Study of Psalm 107 Part 1
All Scripture References are from New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers Inc.
Today we’re beginning a New Summer Series called: “Wanderer. Rebel. Fool. Everyday People.” We, as a church, are on a mission to reach and equip ‘everyday people’ they are our target audience and our mission field. Not so ironically we, as a church, are made up of those same ‘everyday people’… We are not special. We are not better than. We are not superior to…We are a collection of everyday people who are serving an amazing God.
This summer series will use Psalm 107 to explore where some of us have come from - You will most likely see your story here or at least a part of it.
We will get a glimpse of the “weary wanderer, the languishing prisoner, the foolish rebel and the foundering soul lost in a storm…”
You will at the very least get a glimpse of something that is familiar to you - something you can readily relate to…a place where you’ve come from.
If we don’t take a look at where we’ve come from - we are most likely to forget how far we’ve come and also forget Who brought us to where we are.
Then the danger is thinking that we can finish the journey on our own or that we indeed are something special and we run the risk of becoming un-relatable to everyday people.
Turn in your bibles to Psalm 107.
PRAY
Psalm 107 is the first Psalm in the fifth book of the Psalms.
It is primarily a Psalm celebrating the returning of God’s People who have been dispersed all over the world.
They had been wandering, they were held captive, they had been ruled and controlled by others, they had been through an awful lot - but God was gathering them together again…calling them out of the places that collected them like broken pots.
God was calling them out of those places and the Psalmist was calling on them to praise the Lord.
When those of old heard this Psalm they were immediately appreciative of all that God had done and it wasn’t a stretch to apply and respond to the call to be thankful…not at all.
Some would have fresh memories of the very places mentioned throughout the Psalm.
But this isn’t just a historical Psalm applicable to only those who lived then - we will see that it is as spiritually applicable to us today who have heard the voice of Jesus and have been called out of the darkest of places. We were found wandering on the most distant and forgotten roads.
But we heard the voice of Jesus and responded and we have come to God for He hasn't forgotten us.
And from all kind of varied background and difficult circumstances - we come back to God.
He is the good God of Everyday People.
The Psalm opens with these words:
Psalm 107:1: “Give thanks to the lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”
The first words of the psalm are “Give thanks to the lord, Jehovah, For he is good."
One saint of old asks, “Is not this, “For He is Good” the Old Testament version of "God is love"?
Remember we found that in 1 John 4:8, the text so often repeated in our previous series of “What Difference Does It Make?” “God is Love.”
Here we hear repeated over and over “God is Good.” He is good by nature, and essence, and proven to be good in all the acts of His eternity.
God will never be proven to not ‘be good’.
And compared with Him there is none good, no, not one: Jesus replied to a questioner who addressed Him as ‘good teacher’ “Why do you call me good - only God is good.”
God is essentially, perpetually, superlatively and infinitely good.
And we are the constant benefactors of His goodness and so it is fitting that we should respond to the call here - to do what? “To give thanks!”
Realizing just how good God is -we give thanks.
The insightful prayer of George Herbert captures it: “O Thou who hast given us so much, mercifully grant us one more thing - a grateful heart.”
God grant me, grant to us a grateful and thankful heart.
Psalm 107:1-3: “Give thanks to the lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. Has the lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies. For he has gathered the exiles from many lands, from east and west, from north and south.”
We see in these verses three things - A Declaration, An Investigation and An Invitation.
A Declaration - “God is Good! His faithful love endures forever!”
His ‘faithful love’, His merciful love endures for ever.
This phrase, this divine declaration, is the constant and compelling response of God’s people all throughout the Old Testament. And it is set on repeat
This was the song they couldn’t get enough of…
Let me take you on a journey through some passages…
When the ark was returned to and came to it’s resting place under King David’s leadership we find the people’s response in 1 Chronicles 16.
1 Chronicles 16:34: “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.”
They sang this to the Lord, accompanied by those who led them in worship.
There is, providentially, a great description of worship there in that chapter - turn to 1 Chronicles 16:
Reading from 1 Chronicles 16:1-4:
“They brought the Ark of God and placed it inside the special tent David had prepared for it. And they presented burnt offerings and peace offerings to God. When he had finished his sacrifices, David blessed the people in the name of the Lord. Then he gave to every man and woman in all Israel a loaf of bread, a cake of dates, and a cake of raisins.”
The cake of dates, may have been a block of meatloaf - the Hebrew isn't totally clear…seriously.
Bottomline they all got something - the king was in a very giving mood - it was a time of corporate celebration.
Meatloaf or no meatloaf - it was a time to rejoice.
They celebrated because the Ark represented God’s Presence and He was with His people once again.
1 Chronicles 16:4: “David appointed the following Levites to lead the people in worship before the Ark of the Lord—to invoke his blessings, to give thanks, and to praise the Lord, the God of Israel.”
Then the names of those who led in worship are given…Asaph played the cymbals, a whole mess of them played the harps and lyers, the string instruments and the trumpeters put the exclamation mark on the moment…
But don’t miss what it says right there in verse 4.
Their purpose with worship was:
1. To invoke God’s blessings
2. To thank God
3. To praise God
All of their worship was God centered -
God we want You here, join us, we need and want Your blessings and Your Very Presence.
We want to thank You and we want to praise You.
I love our biblical value of Vertical Focus
Vertical Focus: Unashamed and unrestricted adoration and elevation of God. (NWBC Core Value)
God is our audience of One and when we gather for worship it would be so good for us to keep that in mind and to have that perspective.
And to remember we are gathered in God’s Presence to thank Him and to praise Him.
We find a very similar experience when Solomon, David’s son, completed his magnificent temple.
There was nothing on earth like it - it was built to the grandest scale and was scary beautiful!
It was way more than the “special tent” David set up.
There, in the grand Temple, the worship team again filled the temple with these very words as the glory of the Lord descended upon them.
Turn a few pages ahead to 2 Chronicles 5.
Reading from 2 Chronicles 5:11-14:
“Then the priests left the Holy Place. All the priests who were present had purified themselves, whether or not they were on duty that day. And the Levites who were musicians—Asaph, Human, Jeduthun, and all their sons and brothers—were dressed in fine linen robes and stood at the east side of the altar playing cymbals, lyres, and harps. They were joined by 120 priests who were playing trumpets.”
2 Chronicles 5:13: “The trumpeters and singers performed together in unison to praise and give thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, they raised their voices and praised the Lord with these words: “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!” At that moment a thick cloud filled the Temple of the Lord."
This wasn’t a vapor mist gone overkill - it was God.
2 Chronicles 5:14: "The priests could not continue their service because of the cloud, for the glorious presence of the Lord filled the Temple of God"
It blew them away and what happened to the priest - spilled over into the crowd - what was done on stage was echoed in the audience.
We aren’t gathered here today, or on any given Sunday, to watch people worship on this platform.
Our worship team’s mantra is “participation not performance.” I often tell them “Bring us with you…”
And we are to decide to go with them where they lead us and worship God…to focus upon Him, To invoke His blessings and to praise and thank Him.
Flip over to chapter 7 and you’ll see it for yourself.
2 Chronicles 7:3: “When all the people of Israel saw the fire coming down and the glorious presence of the Lord filling the Temple, they fell face down on the ground and worshiped and praised the Lord, saying, “He is good! His faithful love endures forever!”
They repeated this most splendid declaration about the Goodness of God and His faithful/enduring love.
Then, if you will turn to Ezra chapter 3.
Here the temple isn’t even built, it has been in ruins for years and after years of languishing, and exile, and heartache, the effort to rebuild was underway.
The magnificent and glorious days of worship were long behind them and almost forgotten…but witness what happens as they began to rebuild.
Ezra 3:10-13: “When the builders completed the foundation of the Lord’s Temple, the priests put on their robes and took their places to blow their trumpets. And the Levites, descendants of Asaph, clashed their cymbals to praise the Lord, just as King David had prescribed. With praise and thanks, they sang this song to the Lord: “He is so good! His faithful love for Israel endures forever!” Then all the people gave a great shout, praising the Lord because the foundation of the Lord’s Temple had been laid.”
They longed so much to worship the Lord that they couldn’t even wait for the Temple to be rebuilt.
The foundation was enough! The idea was there…and that was all the spark they needed!
And there it is again, with praise…and with thanks…they worshipped God…and they repeated this important truth…God You are so Good…Your love endures forever!
They'd been through an awful lot - they’d been away for a really long time…and finally they were gathered again for worship…they couldn’t contain themselves and they gave collectively a great shout and praised Him.
The emotions were very real and they were very overwhelming - look at the reaction.
Ezra 3:12: “But many of the older priests, Levites, and other leaders who had seen the first Temple wept aloud when they saw the new Temple’s foundation. The others, however, were shouting for joy.”
Why did the older ones weep?
I think that I can imagine that they were experiencing something they had almost stopped talking about.
The memories of God’s goodness, the days gone by of gathering together in their place of worship.
They had almost forgotten the sweet experience of gathering to praise Him and thank Him…and perhaps they even thought, “we’ll never see those days again…our kids will never know what it is like.”
But now we see that they will know…they will see…they will experience…for themselves…and they wept
Why did the younger ones rejoice?
I think that I can imagine that they were experiencing something they had only ever heard about.
So this is what it is like to have a place of worship…so this is what it is like to gather and praise Him and thank Him together…so this is joy…
We love it, we value it and we want more of it.
Ezra 3:13: “The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together in a loud noise that could be heard far in the distance.”
I love, love, love this picture of these two generations gathered together on the foundation of what will one day be the Temple, it wasn’t the magnificent temple of Solomon, it wasn't even David’s special tent.
But it was enough for them and they were making such a loud noise, rejoicing, weeping, remembering and experiencing God’s Presence, worshiping Him, thanking and praising Him that it literally could be heard all throughout their community.
The joyful shouting and weeping mingled together…
We can figure out how to do this better at NorthWest!
We need to ask God to do this here with us so that what happens here has a positive ripple effect that is heard throughout our community.
Perhaps we can rally around the faithful Goodness of our God Who promised restored Israel that she would rejoice in her God again.
Turn to Jeremiah 33 and see and hear it for yourself.
Jeremiah 33:10-11: “This is what the Lord says: You have said, ‘This is a desolate land where people and animals have all disappeared.’ Yet in the empty streets of Jerusalem and Judah’s other towns, there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the Lord. They will sing, “Give thanks to the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, for the Lord is good. His faithful love endures forever!” For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the Lord."
Lord fulfill something similar to this in us today!
So God’s merciful / enduring love was, and is, and will be, "forever", and sinful miserable man may always find relief in the eternal goodness of God, whenever the sense of his misery disposes them to seek for it…and he/she will discover “God is good.”
Next week we’ll start with the Investigation and the Invitation and then look at our first picture of an everyday person - the Wanderer.
