Let your Bible in the Old Testament be turning to Psalm 103. Very brief exposition and exhortation. Very brief. I will try to keep it very brief. Psalm 103. This past week, I told a couple of the elders this past week was the week of a thousand hospital visits. Really, the last two weeks have been other seasons in my life as a minister when I was going to a lot of different hospitals. It seems to go in cycles. You know, you have a period where you're there all the time, every day for multiple weeks, and then you're not anywhere for a while. But lately, not all because of members of this church, but also members of OP congregations in other places that I've been asked to make hospital calls to, or being on call at one of the local hospitals. It just seems like I've been in different hospitals every day of the week for the last week or two. And that has been a blessed privilege. But it's in the context of some of those conversations that this passage was fresh on my mind. And the thoughts that I want to share with you from it came more immediately to my mind. Psalm 103 verse 8, Yahweh is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so Yahweh shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. Heavenly Father, you call us to a life of gratitude. Indeed, this is the chief context and circumstance of the Christian life. And yet, we are often ungrateful. We pray, Lord, as we look at this psalm for a few minutes this afternoon, as we consider other texts relevant in this regard from your word. that your spirit would give us a renewed commitment to that gratitude that we are called to show, to express, to know. And we pray, oh God, that you would teach us a life of obedient gratitude. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, one of the brothers that I was visiting in the hospital last couple of weeks asked me, how am I supposed to be grateful for the way that God is dealing with me. How can I give thanks? He knew that he should. He wanted to. I've been in hospital rooms where there was a lot of bitterness. This was not one of those visits. It was just simply a practical problem. How do I give thanks when everything is going badly? How do I give thanks when I don't know how to do so? I think that's a great question. I think that's a question that probably deserves an entire series of sermons. Instead, I'm going to give you a short answer to that question. In some ways, I think people might assume the answer is obvious, you know, just, we'll just be grateful. Just say, thank you, God. And there is a sense in which the answer can be that simple. You begin thanking God for the blessing of trials that you do not see any blessing in. That prayer can be prayed in faith. But I don't think that's all that scripture leaves us saying. I think scripture gives us more guidance than just to say, just press on in giving thanks. I think it teaches us how we can cultivate a heart, an attitude of gratitude in the midst of tremendous trials and circumstances that just overwhelm us. And so I want to give you a few techniques, if you will. And I realize that we're running the risk of almost sounding as if we're moralizing in the midst of this. I hope that the exposition of these ideas will demonstrate that it's not moralism. But I do want to give you some practical things that you can do when you find yourself in one of those situations. When you say, here I am, and whether you have the humility or the honesty that this brother did to say, I don't know how to give thanks to God right now. I know I'm supposed to. I know that I need to. My inner man wants to. I just don't know how to do it. When you find yourself in that situation, what are you to do? How are you to begin? How can you proceed? There are several passages besides Psalm 103 that I think would be good for you to have in your mind. Let me read three of them just very briefly. First Thessalonians chapter 5, verses 16 through 18, rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Ephesians 5, 18 through 21. Do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God. And then Philippians 4, beginning at verse 4, continuing down to verse 7, Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. There shouldn't be any doubt about our duty to give thanks. There shouldn't be any question. We are a complaining people. I say we, I mean me. Makes me feel better to say we. We complain so easily and so often about so many trivial things. Scripture admonishes us. Do all things without complaining. and exhorts us in everything, good and bad, give thanks to him. How do we do that? Let me suggest three ways, just very briefly. First, we're enabled to give thanks as we focus on transcendent truths. It should be obvious that there are times that we don't feel like rejoicing, and yet scripture says rejoice always. But when a loved one dies or we receive a diagnosis of a chronic or terminal illness or our finances collapse and there's no hope of improvement, we may wonder, how in the world can I rejoice in this situation? My circumstances are awful. I don't know what to do. But God does command us to rejoice even at those times, not because we enjoy the experience, but rather we rejoice in the truth. that the Lord is still reigning in heaven. Our emotional satisfaction in this life is often based on very superficial things. I love Thai food. Some of you know that. And if I get Thai food, I am happy. Really, I feel more optimistic about life. I will sometimes text my wife during the day, randomly, I love you. And periodically she will text me back and say, are you drinking coffee? She knows that I'm just happier when I'm drinking coffee. And just the, maybe it's the caffeine, but just the coffee just makes me love her more. If I get my sermons written early in the week and have extra time with my family at the end, I am happy. If I get a new book that I'm looking forward to reading, I'm happy. But when I don't get the food that I like, and when my work piles up and drags on, and when there's no time for any pleasurable reading, then I'm unhappy. I'm not happy. I don't feel well because the circumstances of my life are not making me happy. How can I rejoice when I'm unhappy? Do you see how trivial and how subjective these experiences are? Scripture tells us not to confuse our subjective emotional experience with our objective spiritual status. When Paul says rejoice always, he says rejoice in the Lord. He doesn't say rejoice in the food, rejoice in the work, rejoice in the reading. He says rejoice in the Lord. We often read the instruction to rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances through the lens of our present experience and how we feel at the present time. But quite honestly, these commands have nothing to do with how we feel. They have everything to do with who we are, where we are in life and why we are there. And the answer is by God's grace. The first technique, I think, for learning obedient gratitude is focusing on transcendent truths. We don't rejoice in our immediate temporal circumstances, which are always changing and frequently unpleasant. But rather, our joy and gratitude is rooted in unchanging and unchangeable truths that stand outside of our temporary experience. Some of you have heard this before in sermons or classes, or you've received this exhortation in pastoral counseling. It's in that context that I do. Talk about this most often. There are three things that no matter what kind of a day, year, or decade you're having, never change. Who God is, what Christ has done, and what he has promised. On the worst day of your life, those things don't change. The worst thing that can ever happen to you cannot change those truths. What does it mean to rejoice in the Lord? At the very least, it means to anchor your joy in those transcendent truths, those truths that do not depend upon how you feel, that do not depend upon the circumstances that you're experiencing at the time, but rather are anchored upon eternal realities that continue to be real and true no matter our immediate trials. I can't control my immediate circumstances, but I can control what I choose to focus upon. And I can focus, with God's help, with the blessing of his spirit upon those unchanging spiritual realities. In times of crisis, I need to discipline myself to celebrate and give thanks for those truths. And I mean that just as practically and mechanically as it may sound. To say you sit down and you say, God, I thank you for who you are. I thank you for what Christ has done. And you elaborate. Who is God? What has Christ done? I thank you for what you have promised. What are those promises? And you stop listening to yourself. You stop listening to your own heart and you start preaching truth back to yourself in prayer. This is where praying scripture is so helpful to us. Secondly, we can learn an obedient gratitude by reflecting on negative outcomes. And this is in particular what prompted this particular sermon and reflection. In Psalm 103, you notice that there is this jarring interruption. All of these, bless the Lord, oh my soul, forget not all his benefits. He heals all your diseases. He removes all your transgressions. He's just blessed you again and again and again. And then verse nine comes. He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins nor repay us according to our iniquities. Now, why did the psalmist have to bring that up? That was unpleasant. I didn't want to think about God's anger. I didn't want to think about his judgment. I don't want to think about my sins. You're telling me God is good because he doesn't give you what you deserve. Well, that may be true, but it's not very encouraging. But clearly the Holy Spirit thought it was appropriate to remind us that God's goodness is seen in his delivering us from the wrath that we richly deserve. Part of cultivating an obedient gratitude is reflecting on what might have been but will not ever be because of God's grace. He has rescued us from bondage. He has saved us from eternal death. He has delivered us from hell. And I don't know how you can think about those things and not be grateful to him, no matter what your immediate circumstances are. This is what people do not understand who say, you know, why do you people preach so much about sin? Why are you talking all the time about the doctrine of sin? Why are you reading the law and corporately confessing your sins and praying for God's forgiveness? Why are you doing that? It's because the one who is forgiven little loves little. And nobody who is forgiven by Christ is forgiven little. The one who is forgiven much and knows it loves more. Your love for Christ will increase in direct proportion to your awareness of the magnitude of His grace. And your awareness of that will grow as you realize, I am a wretch who has been rescued from hell by Christ. And when you're having a difficult time, when things in your life are not going the way that you would desire, and you spend some time in prayer reflecting on what might have been, this circumstance is difficult. My loved one has died. My friends have abandoned me. My financial situation is in collapse. I am in daily pain. I have been received a diagnosis that is going to slowly and surely kill me. This is a bad day. This is a bad time in my life. but it cannot touch the hem of the garment of the wrath of God that was due to me for my sin. The worst thing that my enemy and critic says to me is not more than a fraction of what is true of me and my sin. And Christ delivered me from all of it. I may pass through fire and flood in this life. I will never pass into hell because I have already been brought through judgment by Jesus Christ. That's a powerful truth. And you can give thanks for that no matter what you are facing. If I am in Christ, I am an heir of all things. And that means undiluted, undiminishing, undefeatable, eternal joy. You and I have never known the misery of hell, no matter how hellish some parts of our lives may have seemed. But we have neither ever known the glories, the joys of heaven. And one day we will know that because we will see him there. To be forever in Christ's glory, to know that we will never be overcome by the second death. To know that Christ has already passed through judgment for us and now we are accepted by a heavenly father who will never leave us. How can you not rejoice and give thanks when you are meditating upon that? And then third and finally, we can learn an obedient gratitude by claiming God's sanctifying promises. Now, I tremble to think that this might evoke in your minds kind of the word of faith, name it and claim it sort of heresy. No, I'm talking about God's promises with regard to trials. You claim those promises and you pray them back to God. Not everyone has the same ability to tolerate discomfort and pain, but everyone knows that sometimes we have to sacrifice our comfort and our conveniences to obtain something important. I dare say that most people would probably rather stay in bed and sleep than get up to exercise or to go to work or to pray. But you get up because there is something more valuable to you than comfort and sleep. We can give thanks in the midst of our trials by recognizing how God promises to use that experience of trial in our lives for the good of His people. And we claim that benefit and we celebrate His sovereign providence because the Bible tells us our suffering is never purposeless. It may seem that way at times. It may feel that way to us. We say there is no purpose, there is no value in this. That is never true if you're a child of God. Never. True. Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. Knowing it, not hoping it, not thinking maybe, if possible, somehow, someway, something good might come out of this. No. You rejoice in trials because of what you know about how God will use them. Similarly, Paul says in Romans chapter five, we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance and perseverance, character and character, hope and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. We glory in that because we enjoy the trial. But because we say, I see in God's word how he uses trials. Oh, Lord, do that work in me. Grant me perseverance. Strengthen my character. Make me more like Jesus. Awaken in me a greater hope and hunger to be with you. That's how God uses pain. Pray those promises back to God. Romans 8, 28, we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he predestined, these he also called. Whom he called, these he also justified. And whom he justified, these he also glorified. God uses trial to break us down and remake us like his son. That is the good, in verse 29, that is referred to in verse 28 in that passage. We know that God works all things together for good. That means financial disaster is going to be followed by extraordinary wealth. Not necessarily. Right? A health crisis is going to be followed by an extraordinary recovery. Not necessarily. The good that God works all things together to accomplish by trials is, verse 29, conformity to the image of the Son. Trials, pain, suffering makes you more like Jesus. And that's what you need to pray will be the outcome. Pray, oh Lord, don't let this trial be in vain. Oh Lord, don't let me, by my carnality and pettiness and complaints, don't let me waste what you are doing here, teaching me to trust and making me like your son. Our duty is clear. We rejoice in Christ to give thanks in all circumstances, no matter how we may feel. And yet we cannot do this in our own strength. We dare not try to do it in just sort of a carnal way. So if you walk away and say, well, here were kind of psychological techniques for self-help. No, you missed the point. Either I communicated poorly or you didn't listen well. No, this is not about a carnal way of leveraging our attitude so that we feel better in the midst of trial. It's rather a way of praying and worshiping in the midst of difficult circumstances. We can do that with God's help because the Hebrew writer says that we fix our eyes on Jesus, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Christ is the basis of our joy and our rejoicing. He is the reason that we are able to give thanks in all circumstances. When we find ourselves overtaken by trouble and sorrow, we are to lift our eyes to the Lord, knowing, as Isaiah said, you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. And when I'm lacking peace and I feel unable to rejoice, unable to give thanks, I know that I'm looking at the winds and the waves and not at the Savior toward whom I'm walking. Insofar as we look at ourselves or our pain, our sorrow, our circumstances, we will only find discouragement, anxiety, and despair. Fix your eyes on Jesus and rejoice and give thanks to God that you're united to Him.