Well, congregation again this evening to Psalm 107. Now in terms of the structure, as we kind of dealt with that in some detail this morning, we're going to take up again tonight the introduction, that is verses one through three. And then we'll go to the second Psalm, S-O-M, as it's given to us in the NIV, verse 10, and we'll deal with That second section that explains the normal regular experiences of the Christian and of. God's work with us and in our lives 10 through 16 there tonight. So let's go there. Psalm 107. And we'll begin at one verse one reading through three and then we'll go to verse 10. This again is Book 5, Begins with Psalm 107. Give thanks to the Lord for he is good. His love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say this, those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. And verse 10. Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains for, They had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. So he subjected them to bitter labor. They stumbled and there was no one to help. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them from their distress. He brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains. Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron. Let's fire to your congregation some of the glories of the salvation of our God, and we see it tonight for great benefit in our lives. Well, let's pray asking his help, shall we? Most merciful God, we thank you that in all the scripture there is sufficient instruction by the spirit for the life of every believer in whatever circumstance included, Lord, and that is Psalm 107. And in this psalm, this section, which tells us of another reason for our thanksgiving, we pray, Lord, that as we consider these things in your word tonight, you would give us ears to hear, soften our hearts to receive, and give our hands and feet the readiness of response. Lord, work these truths in our lives, we pray tonight for the glory of your name, asking it in Jesus' name, amen. Well, dear congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Psalms are an anatomy of the human heart. They are a roadmap of the human journey. and a digest of the ways of the deliverance of our God. And those three things are of significance tonight as we take up this text. This morning, the roadmap showed us, as it were, wandering lost in the desert wastelands and with souls that were fainting away. Some, we said this, some of God's people have experienced that in real terms. They have been there. Tonight, God's word, our text, takes us to the dark places of Christian rebellion and what God does to bring his people back to the light. So people of God, people of God, even when God's covenant people rebel and participate in cosmic anarchy, he does not cast us away. He uses whatever means necessary to bring us to genuine repentance. For this we will be eternally thankful. Well, then the text presents to us the following. We see and give thanks for how the Lord brings his erring people to genuine repentance. We see and give thanks for how the Lord brings his erring people to genuine repentance. This is what the text presents to us. Well, let's go this morning, like we did this morning, to that first point, exactly the same words, but a different drawing out of these verses. The introduction reveals the heart of the Lord. He redeems. We go back to it in a sense to add to what we noticed this morning, but the question then comes, well, pastor, add what? And I want us this evening to add the imperative. In a new weightiness, we see the imperative, the command at work in the introduction. When a dad says to the child, go do your homework, you've heard the imperative. The command is clear. Well, it is no less clear in the introduction. Verse one, here it is. Give thanks. It's not a cosmic suggestion. It's not a divine hint. It is rather, in the very language of the original, it is a command. And the command is not just in that first verse. You, is the implication, Christians, you give thanks to the Lord for he is good, his love endures forever. But it continues into verse two. Beloved, let the redeemed of the Lord say this. Make sure it's something of significance in our lives. We need to do this, and in a sense, do it now. It's like when you're teaching your children what obedience means. Obedience isn't delayed. It's not, well, I'll get around to that homework later, Dad. I got a video game to play first. No. You obey with immediacy. There's an urgency to it. And that surely is something of the structure here of the introduction. And we're remembering tonight that this introduction undergirds the four sections of the first part of the psalm that follow it. We're tonight in the second of those four sections. But there's a close correlation. There's a close relationship. To the necessity to do this, that is, give thanks to the Lord in terms of the matter of the second section, as we'll come to it in a moment. Or to put that now more succinctly in short language, the imperative is that we give thanks. Dearly beloved, there is an aspect, a certain part and percentage of thanksgiving that is Commanded of us. Commanded of us by God because he knows better than we do how great is the salvation. One for us by Jesus Christ. But I want to dwell on that for just a minute longer. Now I don't mean to project negatively on any of us and the way we understand the gospel or understand what God has done for us, but I think it's fair to say that you and I, not one of us, know fully how much we have been saved from. We have an idea, we have some notions of what that means, but we don't yet grasp the fullness. We don't know how deep is the Father's love for us. We're gonna come back to that particular part of it Thanksgiving morning, so hold on for more of that. Sometimes, actually, we begin to think that we are far better than is really true about us. At other times, we slip into the deep darkness of depression because we do not understand the implications of rebellion. which is sin. And when those implications of rebellion, which is sin, come crashing in on us, we ought to be thankful that it is God who calls us out of that, as we're going to see in a moment. And so what we see in the introduction, again, is setting us up for those matters that need to be dealt with very carefully. And the command comes very clearly to us. Now, Christians give thanks. Now Christians be ready to thank God and praise him for what he has done in our lives. Now all of what I am saying sort of begs the question. And we need then to be ready to give an answer to that question from our own hearts tonight. I think I know what your answer is already gonna be, but I wanna ask it this way. Would you like to meet your unsaved self? Would you like to meet yourself if yourself is one who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, does not have a heart moved and saved by him? Would you enjoy your non-Christian self? Your Jesus-hating self? Is that somebody you would like to meet and have association with? Now, such a question might wound us until we understand how significant that matter is in the text. And what God is teaching us about a reason for thanksgiving. So people of God, we who are the redeemed, are full of thanksgiving for what has been done for us by Jesus Christ. Let's come to it then after we've set the stage again with the introduction. Now, secondly, some redeemed ones were in great sorrow because of their sins. So as we come to verses 10 through 12, the first part of this section, please notice from those verses three things. Please notice from verses 10 through 12, three things. The heart condition of these people, the human action leading to their heart condition, and God's discipline. That's the third thing, God's discipline, but that discipline brings about two results. So what is the heart condition of these people? Look at it in verse 10. Some sat in darkness and the deepest gloom, prisoners suffering in iron chains. What's the second thing? What led to their heart condition? Well, here we have it in verse 11. They had rebelled against the words of God and despised the counsel of the Most High. And then we get verse 12. Saul, as a response in the flow of the text, he subjected them to bitter labor. They stumbled and there was no one to help. Their rebellion against God is made clear. God's response to their rebellion is all the more clear. But we see the reality of these people sunk down in a prison we might, in modern terms, modern language, call depression. Which feels like, at the end of our passage, verse 16, such depression feels like, verse 16, gates of bronze and bars of iron. But we need to go back to the matter and consider this. How do they ever enter into such a prison? What does the word of God say, verse 11? Rebellion, cosmic anarchy. Here are Christians who plug their ears to what God has made very clear. Dearly beloved, we must admit and also teach our children That our disobedience and the discipline of God which follows it. Leads to Christian depression. And that can feel like being in a dark prison. That is to say, we have to read the words of God honestly and clearly. Now I'm going to add something and I'm only going to say it once because I don't want us to get off the path. I don't want us to get us off the path, but it is important to add that our sin is not the only cause of depression in Christians. Many other causes can be understood, and we need to sort that out carefully in each particular case. So we're not just simply saying that sin, an unrepentant sin, and God's discipline because of that is the only cause of Christian depression. That being said, let's just read the text. And what does the word of God make very clear here tonight? It makes clear that one of the revealed causes of discouragement, depression, feeling like they're in the prison of the Christian is laid out for us clearly here to be disobedience, which brings about discipline. What did we say in the beginning? What are the Psalms? They are anatomy of the human heart, a roadmap of human experience, but also Notice this, a digest of the ways of our God in bringing us back. Because the whole matter of the psalm, go back to the introduction, is that God is the redeemer. And does that redemption, does his work of bringing us back include bringing back the Christian who is in sin, disobedience, lacking repentance? Yes and amen, God's redemption includes Christians in those situations. Have you been down that path? Have you felt something like that? And I mean again, felt something like that. Psalms are experiential. We need to say it, that we need to be aware that sometimes, not always, sometimes depression in the Christian is because of sins not yet repented of. Do you understand that? Has that been an experience of yours? And that darkness, verse 10, can feel very harsh. And God's discipline, verse 12, presses down even more so that we can feel imprisoned, verse 10, imprisoned behind gates of bronze, bars of iron, verse 16. So people of God, rebellion leads to depressive darkness, where God is bringing us to feel what it is like to be alienated from him. Do you want the example of that? Jesus Christ on the cross, who became sin for us, and as we'll see when we come to it, cried out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This, beloved, we need to understand well. Thirdly, then, in repentance, they cried out to God, and he brought them home. And so there is, like we noticed this morning, an important progression in our text. This digest of the ways of God's deliverance brings us to the second result of God's discipline. Notice it in the text. The first result of God's discipline is that he brought them to darkness. He brought them, as it were, down. But the second result is a significant thing. And I have to say again, sadly, a little bit, The other major Bible versions get this a little bit better. So he, God, bowed down their hearts with hard labor. Notice this verse 12, this is how the NIV translates it. So he subjected them to bitter labor. They stumbled and there was no one to help. But I think, again, this would be a better way of putting it. If you got the ESV or the NAS or the King James or the New King James, you have something that goes along the lines of this. So he, God, bowed down their hearts, bowed down their hearts with hard labor. Which after that, you see, notice again the progression, notice the flow of the text. It is after that that we get that transition in verse 13, like we had a transition this morning, which is, then they cried out. And this, beloved, I submit to us is the step that is often missed in the anatomy of the Christian heart, in the journey of the Christian Because the digest of God's ways are always like this, but sometimes we miss it. He brings his people to repentance, sometimes through discipline. And it is what we see here. Notice the progression. Verse 10 is telling us the situation. Verse 11 gives us the first reason for their situation. Verse 12 gives us the second reason for their situation, but also tells us what God does about their situation. He disciplines those whom he loves, Hebrews reminds us. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. Do you notice the connection to that line with verse 6, as we had it this morning? Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. It's the same in verse 13. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. They're not released from their trouble yet. They're in the midst of their trouble, but they know that they are in trouble. And once they know they are in trouble, they cry out to the Lord. Well, what is that knowing that they are in trouble? It is, verse 12, God subjecting them. God bowing down their hearts. With hard labor. Discipline. This is what God does in bringing his people to genuine repentance as an aspect of him bringing his people home. Dearly beloved, be thankful. Be thankful for the discipline of God for in it. He shows his great love By bringing us to genuine repentance as he leads us back home. If now, however, if, and here's the great danger. If, however, his discipline is ignored, then as Hebrews 6 puts it, death results. It is a sobering, serious condition. And if I might, Bring this in carefully. We live in a day when many Christian parents don't see the good of spanking. They don't see the good of a loving discipline of their children, which is for the moment painful, as again the author of the Hebrews puts it. And we live in a day when many churches don't see the good of church discipline. Both actions, parents disciplining their children in love, elders, bringing people under church discipline, both actions, you see, mirror what the text tells us is the way God works. In placing his people, as it were, bowing down their hearts by the heavy labor of discipline for their good, because he loves us. And such, you see, is supposed to bring us to repentance. I say again, and this might be a good thing for you to read tonight or sometime this week if you're not remembering this, Hebrews 12, verses 7 through 11. Hebrews 12, 7 through 11. And I'm going to say it more boldly. It is time for Christian parents and for Christian church elders to again remember the great blessing of discipline. I'm not suggesting we don't do that, but it needs to be said to our church, our situation, in our lying culture. Because our lying culture says, give them everything they want and they will know your love. Wrong. Wrong. That only enables It only leaves people in their death. I want you to notice again from the text, beloved, that verse 13 requires verse 12. That there is not a then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble until verse 12. First, he had subjected them to bitter labor and they stumbled and found there was nobody else to help me. It makes plain, I think, God's plan for us when we rebel. We should not think that we are wiser than God. People of God, we Christians, people of God, we Christians are called to a proper exercise of church discipline here and a parent-to-child discipline in the home Because this is how God brings us to genuine repentance and safety. The Psalms, this one included, a digest of God's ways of bringing his people back home. Fourthly then, the proper response is thanks to the Lord for what he has done. Oh, pastor, do you mean thank the Lord for discipline? You speak to any child who is an adult then, who was raised in a Christian home, where they knew the boundaries and knew what was gonna happen if they went beyond, if they transgressed, they will tell you they're very thankful for that discipline. The same applies to those who were under the threat of excommunication and who then repented. They will say, I am so thankful for that. Now we've said it before, we see it again, that this psalm has a repeated structure to it after the introduction, verses one through three. Notice it this way, after the introduction, verses one through three, in each of the four segments, we dealt with one this morning, one now, another one, plus more on Thursday. In each of those, we get a problem, and then redemption, followed by thanksgiving. That's the basic structure of each of the four segments outlining the regular experiences of God's people. Problem, redemption, thanksgiving. And what we see is a giving of thanks that is rich. We've come to and arrived at verses 15 and 16. As God brings them out of darkness and deepest gloom, breaking away their chains, that's through the process of discipline, he brings them out. The call, verse 15, is let them give thanks. Do you remember this from this morning? It's a call to a corporate profession of thanks. It's a very technical term in the original language. It's a corporate call to all of you, look around one to the other, the people before you and behind you, and say to one another, let's all together thank God. But wait, for discipline? Yes, beloved, because God in that has done for us what we are both unable and unwilling to do. If you're walking with your child in the store, and your child pulls on your arm and says, I want that toy. And you say, OK, here's the toy. When they're seven or eight, when there's 15 or 16, it's going to be, I want that car. And I want that money. And on and on it goes, you see. The parent has to step in and do for the child what the child is unwilling to do for him or herself. This, beloved, brings thanks, eventually. As the section in the book of Hebrews I just encouraged you to read tells us, no discipline feels good at the moment, you see. But the result of it is thanksgiving. Because in the flow of the text here, God has done for us, in terms of our spiritual condition, what we could never do ourselves. Do you see that the way the language is structured here? We couldn't break through the gates of bronze, verse 16. We couldn't cut through the bars of iron, verse 16. We're imprisoned unless God does it. And when He does, there is great thanksgiving in our hearts. Because we come to know that what we couldn't do, God can do. And even more to the point, what we were unwilling to do, God powerfully does. Dearly beloved, our heartfelt thanks should be offered to God for the deliverance he alone has provided. God set you free from sin and death by the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want us to try to work this out for a moment longer tonight. I'm going to ask you in that last fill-in-the-blank section, as you have it there on your page, to come up with five things that you are truly thankful to the Lord for, and here's the caveat, here's the asterisk, at least three of those five things have to be issues of deliverance. that you are thankful to God for. Some situation in your life, some problem or danger or trap that you know God has set you free from. Something that you say, I couldn't have done this myself. I didn't want to get out of this problem myself. But God did it. He brought me to repentance. What are we thankful for? And I mean that in terms of our eternal situation. What do we say? Oh, Lord God, you have done this for me. I couldn't do it myself. I didn't want to do it myself. And what would have been the result had he not intervened and put us in a hard situation to bring us to repentance? What would have resulted is an eternity in hell. And this, again, the church needs to say clearly in our day. Because when the church doesn't, you have all kinds of people living all kinds of lifestyles they think God is entirely pleased with. What is the fruit of repentance? What is the function of church discipline and family discipline? If people are not set free, death brings the entrance into everlasting, burning, searing imprisonment. behind gates of bronze and bars of iron, in the lake of burning fire. And so, beloved, when it comes right down to it, what are we thankful the most for what God has done? And it is that. Indeed, it is that. He has set us free. Amen. Lord, now we thank you that we can have our hearts again aligned with your word by your spirit to thank and praise you for the salvation you have worked in our lives. And Lord, if there is some issue in our life, if there is some unconfessed, unrepentant of sin pattern in our lives, bring us Lord again now. To confess that. And to deal with it. And to be honest about it. and see that even the discipline that you bring us into is for our good and out of your love, to bring us to safety. Oh Lord God, bring us to safety, for which we praise you and thank you, in Jesus' name, amen. We're going to sing this evening, beloved, now from the Red Songbook, 253, and then our doxology, the next one in the Red Songbook, 254. So let's stand this evening in the Red Songbook at 253.