Obtaining Mercy

Psalm 50:14 – Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High:

The Psalmist Asaph wrote this chapter and he tells of God calling His saints together to judge them. He identifies who they are by saying “those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice”. 

In the Old Testament, God’s people had a complex system of laws to follow in order to worship God properly. One important aspect for the forgiveness of their sins was the offering of sacrifices.

But even when they did the sacrifices perfectly, their obedience didn’t make them perfect. Their minds and consciences were never clear of their guilt. It was never assuaged (softened, eased or lessened), and their sins were never permanently cleansed. (Hebrews 9:9; Hebrews 10:1-3)

The Lord wasn’t calling them together to reprove (blame or find fault with) them for the sacrifices, but He wanted to point out some truths. The Lord reminds them that they needed to move beyond the sacrifices, beyond the guilt. The physical act of doing the sacrifices was required, but only because it tested their obedience.

God didn’t need the dead animals. He wasn’t going to use the flesh and blood. They were just a foreshadowing of the death of Jesus (God’s perfect Lamb) on the cross of Calvary. (Hebrews 9:14; Hebrews 10:12-14)

What God truly desired was their hearts (Hebrews 10:16). He longed for them to offer thanksgiving to Him because of His goodness and love to them. Remember, in Leviticus 22:29, that even when they offered the sacrifice of thanksgiving, it was to be offered “at your own will.” He wanted them to be thankful because they loved Him.

God does not demand our thanks. But He desires it. He knows that when we humble ourselves enough to stop counting our losses and complaints and start counting our blessings from Him, He has our focus.

He can do great things with a man or woman whose heart and mind are turned toward Him, full of gratitude and thanksgiving.

Today is a good day to clear our minds of everything and focus on the goodness of God in our lives. Really begin to reminisce about how God has moved and protected and led in your life. Think about how He has blessed you. Let your thoughts move your heart to thankfulness, and then spend time in prayer, thanking the Lord for His many, many blessings.

Psalm 35:18 – I will give thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise thee among much people.

      Congregation – an assembly of persons; an assembly of persons met for the worship of God.

This verse seems pretty self-explanatory. One of the ways that we are to give thanks and praise the Lord is in a large group of people.

Is it any wonder that the term “congregation” is most often used to describe the group of people in church together? Technically, the word refers to any group of people, but Christianity has so influenced our language that the term is rarely used for other gatherings of people.

Unless our health prohibits us, or we are the caregiver of someone whose health prohibits them, we should regularly meet with large groups of people to praise and thank the Lord for His goodness.

Interestingly, this entire chapter is David’s pleading with God to rescue him from all his enemies.  In verses 15-16 he says that his enemies gathered together and had feasts, where they rejoiced when he had adversities and shredded him with their conversation.

I wonder if this is the great congregation that David says he was going into to give thanks to the Lord!

It’s one thing to praise the Lord in church. It’s utterly different to give God thanks in the middle of a group of people who hate you.

Maybe there’s a crowd of people you associate with who, if they aren’t your enemy, would definitely be classified as God’s enemy. Maybe they are at work, in your classroom, at family gatherings or even out in public places of commerce.  

Do not be ashamed to speak of God’s goodness there! Raise your praise over the din of cursing, blasphemy, criticism and mockery. Give God your thanks, out loud, no matter where you are.

David ends the chapter by praying that those who rejoice in his hurt be ashamed and brought to confusion; and that those who favor his righteous cause will shout for joy and be glad. But as for him, his plan remained unchanged.

“My tongue shall speak of the righteousness and of thy praise all the day long.” Psalm 35:28

No matter the crowd, keep thanking God for His goodness in your life!

Psalm 30:12 – to the end that my glory may sing praise to thee, and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever.

David lays out an impressive chapter of the works of God in his life, here in chapter 30, as well as contrasting his life without God and how God brought about a change in his circumstances.

He sums up the chapter with the words “To the end that…”

      End – the thing at which one aims; the object intended.

Every work of God in our life has an end goal: to give praise and thanks to our God.

“…my glory…”

      Glory – that which honors or makes renown (famous); honorable representation of God.

The works of God are not the only thing to bring praise to God. Anything that “honors or makes renown (famous)” in our lives should also bring God glory. Our glory is for Him. We are to be an “honorable representation” of the Lord.

“…may sing praise to thee…”

      Sing – to utter sounds of voice; to celebrate in song; to tell or relate in numbers of verses; give praise in verse.

David encourages us to praise the Lord with music and verses. But here’s the catch – he encourages us to sing with our voice! Just listening isn’t good enough. We’ve got to open our mouths and let the sounds of praise flow from us.

“…and not be silent.”

      Silent – not speaking; not mentioning, not proclaiming

It’s wrong for us to keep quiet about God’s goodness in our lives.  We need to tell someone. Who are you telling about God’s blessings? With whom are you sharing your testimony? Who is learning about the Lord because you’re singing, praising, thanking and telling of Him?

The last sentence of the chapter reminds us that no matter how much we praise the Lord publicly, we must continue our relationship with Him privately. Our communion and thanksgiving to the Lord is something that must go on for the rest of our lives. Don’t fail to meet and talk with Him each day.

“O LORD my God, I will give thanks to thee for ever.”

Psalm 30:4 – Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

As saints, if we are going to give thanks at the remembrance of the Lord’s holiness, let’s look back at the first mention of holiness in the Word of God.

It’s the story of Moses and the burning bush found in Exodus, chapter 3. I found the following things very interesting:

*God sends His angel to set the bush on fire for Moses, but doesn’t speak to him until Moses decides for himself to alter his direction toward the bush.

*God calls out to Moses that he should not come any closer.

*God tells Moses that the ground is holy.

*God tells Moses to take off his shoes and allow nothing between his feet and that holy ground.

What an amazing correlation to New Testament salvation!

*The Lord filled the earth with His miraculous creation that testifies of His existence. He woos the lost to take notice. (Romans 1:20, Titus 2:11)

*As soon as a fallen man begins to seek God, God calls out to him, because He wants to be found! (Deuteronomy 4:29, Matthew 7:8, Luke 11:10, Acts 17:27)

*But what is the first message we, as fallen people, hear from God? “Stop, stay away, you cannot come near. I am Holy. You are sinful.” (Romans 3:10-12, 23)

*Then, with the holy echo of a hammer driving nails and the whisper of “It is finished” wafting on a holy breeze, God beckons us to come, to take off our shoes, to be stripped bare of all that is separating us from Him. We, the wicked, the fallen, the sinful, the “not enough” are completely laid open to His view.

And by faith and through the sprinkling of His blood, we are invited to see the One who is too holy to be seen, touch the very One who is too holy to be touched. God allows us to enter into the Holiest of all beyond the veil.

Hebrews 10:19-22 “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water”

The Psalmist David said if we are a saint, we should “sing unto the Lord” and “give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness”. 

How can our hearts be unmoved as we recall how He wooed us to Himself; how He, while remaining holy, allowed us access to Himself through the veil of His blood for the remission of our sin?

Friend, I hope you find the opportunity to sing and give thanks to the accessible Holy One today!

Psalm 26:7 – “That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.”

The word “that” here is used to show the reason for the verses that came before it. David asked the Lord to do a few things in the first verses of this chapter:

• Verse 1 – “Judge me” (to examine and pass sentence on”)
• Verse 2 – “Examine me” (to inspect carefully with a view to discover truth)
• Verse 2 – “Prove me” (to make certain, to show)
• Verse 2 – “Try my reins and my heart” (to search carefully the seat of affections and passions)

The Psalmist asks the Lord to thoroughly and throughly examine and inspect his heart so that he could properly testify of the things God had done for him.

In order to make known to others our gratitude for the wondrous works of God in our lives, our heart needs to be right with Him.

If my husband is habitually hateful, adulterous and demeaning, and abandons the vows he made to me, yet he goes around bragging about what an incredible wife I am, his words mean nothing to me! They would be deeply offensive and I’d be wounded by them.

God doesn’t want our thanks if our heart is not in it. He wants our hearts first, then our thanks.

Let’s stop the hypocritical “praise and worship” lifestyle until the style of our life is actually one of obedience and gratitude to our great God and Saviour.

When we’ve repented of known sin, turned our hearts back to our Lord, and followed Him in obedience, our testimony of thanksgiving will have a genuine ring of love and adoration that the world will recognize. Then their hearts will turn to our God too.

Psalm 18:49 – “Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.”

This verse, and actually the entire chapter, is the song of praise from David found in II Samuel 22:50.

As an old man, David is looking back over his life and recounting all the ways that God has blessed him. It’s a song of love, praise, adoration and remembrance of the gracious and merciful acts of the Lord.

This verse gives us an outline for a life that is full of gratitude for all that God has done for us:
• We give God thanks privately (our daily devotional time)
• We give God thanks by telling the unsaved about Him (witnessing)
• We give God thanks publicly (ministry and service)

Being thankful is something that should permeate our lives every day, not just something relegated to one month of the year. I believe it is truly a way of life.

If you look at the lives of great preachers, you will notice that they never take the goodness of God for granted. The sweet spirit of gratitude is the driving force behind their preaching and their ministries.

That spirit is a by-product of their internal thoughts about their God. They remain constantly amazed and humbled by God’s goodness in their lives.

We would do well to emulate the Psalmist’s practice of filling our minds with thoughts of God’s great goodness to us.