Please turn again with me to the book of Psalms. We turn our attention to Psalm 92, a psalm given to the people of God to be sang in a specific day. You will notice from the title of the psalm, it's a song divinely, inspiredly composed to be sang on the Sabbath day. And as we consider the message of Psalm 92 this morning, we will inescapably conclude that the Thanksgiving season of the Christian never ceases. Do you understand this morning, Christian, that your Thanksgiving, it never ends. It continues. Week after week, and the Lord rekindles your reasons for thanksgiving every Sunday as we gather together for worship. The thanksgiving of the Christian never ends. Please turn with me to Psalm 92 as we go back to the word of the Lord that enlightens our path, that guides us unto all truth, and that moves us through thanksgiving to the Almighty. A psalm, a song for the Sabbath day. It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your lovingkindness in the morning and your faithfulness every night. When an instrument of ten strings on the lute and on the harp with harmonious sound For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work. I will triumph in the works of Your hands. O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts are very deep. A senseless man does not know, nor does a fool understand this. When the wicked spring up like grass, and when all the workers of iniquity flourish, it is that they may be destroyed forever. But you, Lord, are on high forever. For behold, your enemies, O Lord, for behold, your enemies shall perish, and the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. With my horn you have exalted like a wild ox. I have been anointed with fresh oil. My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies. My ears hear my desire on the wicked who rise up against me. The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in an old age. They shall be fresh and flourishing." To declare that the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him. Praise it be the name of the Lord. Let us pray together. Almighty God in heaven, as we gather together to say thank You, Almighty One, once again, Father, we pray that You would enlighten our minds as we seek to understand Your Word this morning. Lord, as we come filled with gratitude to worship and praise You, Father, we pray, fill our hearts with even more gratitude. Fill our hearts with even more thanksgiving. Fill our mouths with the true reasons for Thanksgiving so that these reasons may populate our conversations today. That as we are surrounded with good food and family and friends and delightful company, may we all boast and be glad in You, O Lord. For it is good to give You thanks. In Jesus' name, Lord, we pray. Amen. You see, Christian, for the world, Thanksgiving is simply another season. You gather that, especially going to grocery stores. There's the seasonal section. At the end of November, when December comes, all the pumpkin spices and smells disappear from the supermarkets. At the end of October, perhaps mid-October, you get your cart and you ride around the different aisles and you can already smell those specific spicy smells typical of Thanksgiving season. And that's what Thanksgiving is for the world. It's just a season. It's just a period of time, very brief, that passes by and another season comes and the Thanksgiving is forgotten. The hard seasons come and the reasons for Thanksgiving is gone. Why? Because the season is past. But not for me and not for you. For the Christian, for those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ, for those who have been called with the efficacious call of the Lord, to those who have been predestined unto eternal salvation, to those who have been adopted by the Father and called the Heavenly One, the Almighty Abba, for those, Thanksgiving is every day. It's all the time. And they are refreshed in that assurance every time they gather together for worship. Every Sabbath, every Thanksgiving, they are reminded, Christian, it is good for you to thank the Lord. It is a delight. And why is that? That's exactly what the psalm communicates to us. Why is it good to say thank you to the Lord? Why is it for the Christian not only a season, but it is a continual and perennial state for those who have been called out of darkness into the light of the Triune Lord through His Son in the power of the Holy Spirit? Well, as we together revisit Psalm 92, this is what we learn. We learn the reasons for the Christian's eternal thanksgiving. We learn why is it wonderful to say thank you to the Lord. And here is the reason, the reason for the Christian's thanksgiving is God's covenantal works of judgment and redemption. This is your reason, Christian, and my reason to always, every day, week after week, say, thank you, Lord. The reason for the Christians' Thanksgiving is God's covenantal works, always truthful, always faithful, never failing, God's covenantal works of judgment and of redemption. So we consider three things this morning, this natural division of the psalm. We notice first verses 1-4 that it is Yahweh's works of promise. Yahweh's works of promise which are the reason for our thanksgiving. Secondly, we notice in verses 5-9 that it is Yahweh's works of judgment. It is Yahweh's works of judgment, the reason for our thanksgiving. And lastly, we'll notice that it's Yahweh's works of redemption. Yahweh's works of redemption, which are the reason for our thanksgiving. Yahweh's work of promise, work of judgment, and work of redemption, the reason, Christian, for your thanksgiving. What should be in our mouths around the table throughout the day, talking to family, friends, and neighbors, is that Yahweh sustain always and faithfully His covenantal works of judgment and redemption. And for that, we are always thankful. If you look at the psalm, notice we have already observed this is a psalm for the Sabbath day. And what is the Sabbath day reserved for? It's not for idleness. We know that the Sabbath is a day for rest, but Psalm 92 also reminds us that it's not idleness, restfulness that we are called to enjoy or that we are called to live in the Sabbath day. We are called to praise. And this call is more than a duty. Look at verse 1. It says, it is good. It's not a duty. Yes, it is a duty for the Lord. He is our Creator and Father, but it's more than that. It's more than something that we are simply obligated to. There is a pleasure involved. It is good. There is delight in coming with the saints to say publicly, thanks to the Lord. Notice how public is the nature of this thankfulness. We sing together. Again, this is a psalm for the Sabbath day. So we come together to sing praises, to sing aloud, to communicate verbally. It's not an individual thankfulness. It's not that gratitude or that thanksgiving that is hidden in your heart, but it's publicized. You talk about it, even to the point of making sound that is pleasing to the ears. Look at verse three, how elaborated the sound is. This is so public and elaborated that it involves instruments and lute and harp and harmonious song. That's the depth, the desire, the pleasure that is involved in expressing thanks to the Lord. It's also unstoppable. You notice that? Again, at the end of verse 2, this gratitude and this praise begins in the morning. But it extends all the way to the evening. Declare the loving kindness of the Lord in the morning and your faithfulness every night. It is unstoppable Thanksgiving. It is all the time. It is throughout all the day. But why? Why are we called and are we encouraged to delight in the Lord? Verse 4 tells us why. It's because of His work. Now it's not because of the good things He gives us. It's wonderful that we have freedoms and liberty and that we have bountiful harvest and that we are a strong and industrious people as Reagan cited in his declaration, but it's more than that. It's because of God's works. It's not because of our works. It's not because of the things that we have accomplished and conquered and experienced, but it's because of what God does for us. That's the reason why at the end of verse 4 he says, I will triumph. Triumph here stands as a synonym for I will delight, I will glory, as the Apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians, I will boast. I will boast in what? In the works of your hands. Well, perhaps when we read this expression, the works of your hands, we immediately think about creation. That's the works that the Lord clearly made in six days and all very good. He created this world and the cosmos, the entire universe, out of nothing in its perfection. But when we look again at verse 2, we notice that it is a specific work. It's not that we are not to be thankful for creation, but there's more to be thankful for. Look at verse 2. Verse 2, we find that very common word that I'm sure is familiar to all of y'all. Chesed. Verse 2 says, to declare your chesed, your loving-kindness in the morning. That's the covenantal love of God. That's the faithful, special, particular, peculiar love of God. all the nations of the world, but for His people in specific. The Lord indeed, providentially, makes the rain fall on the good and on the evil. He providentially is merciful with different kinds of peoples around the world, but His loving kindness, Christian, is just for His people. It is through His covenantal faithfulness or loving kindness or faithful love that the Lord saves His people from perdition. It is through His loving kindness and through a loving kindness, look again at verse 2, it does not fail. It's the loving kindness of the Lord and the faithfulness of the Lord, which are the works of the Lord that we praise Him and are thankful every day. You see, the psalmist is talking about the choosing of Israel. The choosing of Israel out of all the people, tribes, and nations, He particularly chose the smallest, the weakest, the feeblest people so that in them He would reveal His love, mercy, compassion, and grace. It is about the protection of Israel that no other nation enjoyed. The protection of Israel from enemies, the protection of Israel from different seasons of drought and of seasons of scarcity. The Lord not only calls His people, but He also protects them and provides for them as a dutiful, loving husband protects his wife. The loving kindness of the Lord includes the future of Israel. All the nations will come and join Israel. Remember the promises. All the nations will come and bow down, not to Israel, but to the God who saved Israel. Israel is a light to the nations and the future of Israel is not destruction. The future of Israel is not disappearing like all the other nations cyclically disappear. No, the future of Israel is establishment for the Lord establishes Israel. You see, Christian, this is the reason why we give thanks to the Lord today as the Israel of God in the New Covenant. I trust you are very much acquainted with the New Testament message that the New Testament church is God's Israel. The church of Christ, both in the Old Testament and in the New, is God's Israel. And we know that from the Apostle Paul writing to the Galatians, a Jew, a Pharisee, writing to the New Testament church saying that those who are of faith, they are the ones who are true sons of Abraham. That was in the mind of the Apostle Paul. So when we look at these four first verses, we are reminded that this is the reason why we come together, not only today, but every Lord's Day, every Sabbath, we come together to rejoice in these very same works of redemption. We come together to rejoice in our election, in our effectual calling, in our preservation, in our future victory. This is what we see the Apostle Paul again encouraging us over and over again through his letters. In Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11 he says that we are chosen and predestined according to his plan. And what is God's plan for his people? That they should praise him for his salvation, for the great works that he does as we have read in verse 4. The reason why we gather together to thank the Lord is not only the bounty that He has given us in this country, it's not only all the blessings that He has bestowed, the material things, but most and ultimately is for His covenantal faithfulness, which never fails. Be it sunny or be it rainy, be it a prosperous year, be it a year filled with hardship and difficulties, Here is what never changes, and here is why your thanksgiving never stops, the covenant of faithfulness, the redemptive love of God towards you. If you are in the hospital bed, if you are mourning for the passing of a beloved one, Or if you're rejoicing with the birth of a new covenant child, the Thanksgiving never stops because God in His Son has called you, preserves you, and grants you a certain future in the kingdom to come. The same promises of Israel, the same covenantal love, the same faithfulness and loving kindness, Christian, is also yours in Christ. Aren't you to be thankful then? Isn't that to be constantly in our mouths as we gather together and we have different topics and conversations to spend time with this morning, this evening? I trust if you have a big family, perhaps you have different meetings, you have different appointments. You meet with a specific family for lunch, and then you have a specific family or other family to meet at dinner. And what are to mark our conversations? How thankful we are for God's loving kindness, unfailing covenantal love. And we, better than any other generation, can taste of that when we look back at the cross. You see, the Israelites would be singing this song, would be singing Psalm 92 in shadows and tides. We now sing looking at the reality. We now sing, looking to Christ in whom all these promises of election, of effectual calling, of preservation, and of glorious future in Him, all of them are made real and clear to us. Be thankful, Christian, for God's works of promise. But as we move in the text, verses 5-9, we notice that there is another reason for gratitude, for thanksgiving, to abide in our souls, and it is God's works of judgment. God's works of judgment. Verses 5-9 reminds us that as we enjoy God's redemption, it doesn't mean that we are free from trouble. That's not what it means. Some people look at Christianity and that's the first thing that they think, right? The first thing that they think is that Christianity is about being... free from suffering. That's part of the preaching and the theology of several false churches out there. The prosperity gospel is a clear expression of what is contrary to the content of verses 5 to 9, because while we rejoice in the loving kindness of the Lord, what we see here in these verses is that we are surrounded by the wicked. And the wicked flourish. Look again at verse 7. He says, the wicked flourish like spring, and they spring up like grass. The workers of iniquity flourish, and this is the reality surrounding us. What a discouragement, isn't it, for a people who delights in righteousness? Again, Reagan was rejoicing that the Lord has blessed this land, given us a people that delights in morality. Is that what we see? Aren't we just like the psalmist, able to describe what happens around us as the springing up of the wicked? You see, when people are confronted with that reality, they can't make sense of it. That's what the psalmist says. The thoughts of the Lord are very deep, and the senseless man can't make sense of it, but not us. Not the Christian, not those who are in the Lord. Those who are in the Lord, they know the reason why there is this apparent victory or apparent comfortableness for the wicked. What's the reason? Look at the end of verse 7. So they may be destroyed. The Lord make them prosper. The Lord made them comfortable, as we have considered last Lord's Day in Romans 1. The Lord gave them over to their own pleasures and delights so that they will be destroyed forever. I trust you to remember that it was not long ago here in the area of Michigan when the idea that everybody will be saved was publicly announced. Books were published. I trust you may be familiar with the book entitled, Love Wins, which taught and spread the heresy that all will be saved. What do we do with verse 7 then, if that is true? What do we make of it? What we make of it is that we believe it. We embrace it and we consider as heresy that which is not according to the Word of God. The text says that they will be destroyed forever. It is tragical. It is hard. But it's the truth. It is the Word of God. He has set aside his love for his people. His loving kindness and his faithfulness is towards Israel and his elected people. But there is a group, the whole mass, who is outside of that group. They will be destroyed. They flourish for a while. Yes, indeed. They are workers of iniquity and they will be destroyed forever. And here's the reason why. Look at verse 8. Because they are God's enemies. Do you know who were God's enemies as well? You and me. Until God in His sovereign grace extended His love, saving love towards us. Isn't that what the Apostle Paul explains in Ephesians 2? That we were in darkness, but we were brought into His marvelous light. And then the Apostle says, you were enemies, but you're not enemies anymore. Peter says, you were not a people, but now you are a people of God. You see, those who are not a people, they are enemies. That's what the psalmist says in verse 8. For behold, your enemies, O Lord, your enemies shall perish. They will be scattered. Why is that a source of thanksgiving for the Christian? Are we to the light that the wicked perish? Are we to the light that there is suffering for those who are workers of iniquity? Or are we to the light in that the Lord is executing His just judgment and His holiness is being upheld? I submit to you this morning that the reason for our thanksgiving is that we delight in the Lord's holiness being proclaimed. with the light in the Lord upholding His holiness, even if it means the destruction of the wicked." How is that a source of thanksgiving for us? Oh, Christian, you're not an enemy anymore. Someone took your enmity in His shoulders. You see, while this description really fits many who surround us, you have been freed from this reality. As you sit with your families tonight and you open your Bibles and you offer a prayer to the Lord, grateful for all the blessings, remember you come into the presence of God as a friend, as an adopted son and daughter, as one who are now united with the Lord Jesus Christ and can enter boldly in His presence. This is not your description. Here is the thanksgiving. The thanksgiving is that God's works of judgment have been fulfilled for you in Christ. His wrath was poured upon His own Son so that you would be received as a people. Isn't that reason for you to praise the Lord today and every day, Sunday after Sunday, through the week when things are hard or when blessings are pouring like rain. It doesn't matter what happens in the circumstances. What really matters is that we're not enemies anymore. We're not like the wicked whose springs like grass just to be destroyed forever, no. We are the covenanted people of God who forever experiences His loving kindness. Regardless of the season, the loving kindness of the Lord is perennial. It never ends. It's never shaken. It never wavers. Be grateful today, Christian, for you're not an enemy. You're God's people. You're not lost. You have been saved. You're not the wicked who springs to be destroyed. You are the godly who flourishes to inherit the kingdom of heaven." And that's exactly how the psalm ends, isn't it? It's the conclusion of the psalm. It's your blessed future inheritance. It's God's works of redemption. We are thankful for God's promise, for God's works of promise, for His chesed, for His loving kindness that never wavers, that never stops, that never ends. We are grateful for God's judgment on the wicked. We're grateful that the Lord has judged our wickedness in our blessed Savior. But we are also thankful for the inheritance that awaits us very soon. Verses 10 through 15 concludes the psalm and reminds us of the strength of the godly. While the wicked is strengthened or flourishes to be destroyed, look at verses 10 and 11. We have here the description of one who is strengthened to live for God's glory. My horn, which is an expression of power, it's a metaphor for power in the Hebrew Bible. So my power you have exalted like a wild ox. I have been anointed with fresh oil. Sounds like a king being ordained, doesn't it? Sounds like a king being separated to execute the office of a king. The Lord has exalted the power of his people and anoints his people with fresh oil. And now the eyes and the ears, now think about this. Isn't frequently what our eyes see and what our ears hear that cast us down? It's because of the things we see and because of the news we hear that discouragement, sadness, lack of hope invades our soul. But look what happens with our eyes and ears. My eyes has seen my desire on my enemies. My ears hear my desire on the wicked who rise up against me. Now, it's very interesting to compare verses 10 and 11 with the previous verses. If you notice, the previous verses talk about the future. You notice that? The wicked, they shall be, they will be, they flourish now, but they may be destroyed. So verses 5 through 9 is about the future. But the future is so certain. The psalmist is living by faith to the point that now he already sees the destruction of the wicked. He already hears the news about the wicked being destroyed. Those who threatened him, who surrounded him with threats of death and harm are now defeated because the Lord is with him. That which is Ultimately going to be experienced in the future is already the reality of the psalmist. He's living by faith and not by sight. Are you a Christian? Do you sit here this morning offering thanksgiving, bringing thanksgiving to the Lord out of faith and not out of sight? Perhaps your eyes have seen better days in the past, materially speaking, and your ears have heard better news in the past. Well, the Lord is reminding you that you are to rub your eyes and look to the Son, and that you are to unplug your ears and listen to the voice of the Son who says in the book of Revelation, this is the patience of God's people, they wait. They wait with satisfaction in the Lord. And they delight in the Lord with the blessings that already are, but also will be in the future. What is going to happen? Look at the last verses. The righteous flourish. Even those who are in old age, look at verse 14, they are fresh and flourishing. If you talk to the gray-headed in this congregation, You probably have experienced this. The appearance may be of frailty and weakness, but their souls and hearts, they're burning strong. If you have ever shook Karl Mayer's senior hand without preparation, you have experience of this freshness. That's a strong handshake. The freshness of the Lord, even to those gray-headed, even to those who are in old age, says verse 14. And why is that freshness? Does that mean bodily vigor? Of course not. Look at verse 13. The freshness is the presence of God Himself in the people's lives. They are planted in the house of the Lord. That's why they flourish is because they enjoy and they are in the presence of God. Remember, the house of God, the tabernacle and the temple were pictures of what? Of the presence of God in the midst of His people. The psalmist is using this picture to remind us where is our strength? Where is our vigor? It is not in our flesh and bones and muscles. It is in the Lord. And those who are in the Lord, they are planted in His house. They are the ones who shall flourish in the courts of our God. The flourishing takes place in the presence of God. And that's where Thanksgiving comes from. Actually, that's the reason why we flourish. Look at verse 15. We flourish to declare that the Lord is upright. The reason why there is vigor in you, Christian, is so that you may open your mouth and praise God and say thanks. That's the reason. Is the flourishing then a well-ran business? Is the flourish then a complete, fully successful marriage? Is the flourish then sons and daughters that grow up to make a fortune for themselves? No, the flourishing is to be in the Lord and to dwell in the Lord, to abide in Him, as John says in his first letter. And as we abide in His presence, regardless of the season, then we are ready to say, thank you, Lord. Thank you. Regardless of the season, He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Are you ready to say, thank you, Lord, this morning? Can you see the reasons in your own life, Christian? In your own walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, calling, saving you, adopting you, preserving you, and preparing a kingdom for you, can you see it this morning? Oh, it tastes better than pumpkin pie, doesn't it? It tastes like forever. It tastes like redemption. And that's why we are thankful. Let us pray. Great God in heaven, thank you. Thank you for our redemption. Thank you for your work of promise, for your works of judgment, for your work of redemption. Thank you for turning us from enemies into friends, into sons and daughters adopted in Christ. Thank you, Lord, for indwelling and sealing us with your Holy Spirit and giving us the vigor that we stand in need of as you plant us in your house, as you make us your temple, as you abide in us through your Holy Spirit. Thank you, Lord, for sustaining us in the hard seasons and in the pleasant seasons. Oh, Lord, your people are ready to say, thank you, Father. Blessed be your name forever and ever. Father, we pray that as we continue in this Thanksgiving desire and this Thanksgiving disposition, may you through this day continue to bring to our memories and to our souls how greatly You have blessed us. How greatly You have blessed us through Christ, through His cross, through His resurrection, and through the kingdom that He is preparing for us. Help us, O Lord, to keep our eyes fixed on Your faithful works. In Jesus' name, Lord, we pray.