Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Holiness and Obedience

Why Has God Blessed You?

Transcript: AI Transcript

Professor: John Weaver

Subject: New Testament Studies

Genre: Sermon

Dictation Name:

Date: 2018-10-10

Synopsis: Pastor John Weaver explores the question of why God blesses His people, using Psalm 105 as the central text. He emphasizes that God's blessings are innumerable and often taken for granted, and that the proper response is gratitude, praise, and obedience. The ultimate purpose of God's blessings is that we might observe His statutes and keep His laws, leading to repentance and a deeper understanding of His lovingkindness.

[John Weaver] In our Bibles into Psalm 105 Psalm 105 And we're going to read the first seven verses Psalm 105 and Notice if you would beginning there with verse 1, Psalm 105, O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk ye of all His wondrous works, glory ye in His holy name, let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in His strength, seek His face evermore. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders and the judgments of his mouth. Oh you see to Abraham his servant you children of Jacob his chosen He is the Lord our God his judgments were in all the earth The title of the message today is a question Why has God blessed you I could ask a very facetious question today and ask, have you been blessed by the Lord God?

[John Weaver] And undoubtedly the answer would be a resounding yes. It is impossible to recount all of God's blessings. It is God who's given us life and health and love and family, silver, gold, money, host of other blessings as well. And the truth is that we cannot number his blessings because they're so multitude in us. In fact, one of my favorite passages, which I quote regularly, is Lamentations 3, 22 and 23, where the Bible says, It is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not.

[John Weaver] They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness. It is absolutely impossible to number the blessings that we just had yesterday. It's impossible to number the blessings that we had this morning How much more would it be impossible then to try to number the blessings of a lifetime?

[John Weaver] Now understand that there are many incidents and episodes that stand out in your mind And you can see how God has preserved you so many times and you can say yes I recount those and I recall those but there are multitude of others that you cannot recount and do not recall and You cannot enumerate them because there are so many. The Bible says in the book of Job chapter 5 and verse 9, talking about God, which do with great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number. So God does marvelous things without number then in Job 9 in verse 10. He says which do with great things past Finding out yay and wonders without number so God performs wonders without number, and great things that are past finding out." So some of those marvelous wonders and some of those great things relate to God's providence.

[John Weaver] So I want you to hold Psalm 105 we are coming back there. But I want you to look in Acts chapter 14 at verse 17 because included in these wonderful works of God happens to be His marvelous providence. So Acts chapter 4 and verse 17 the Word of God says this, Nevertheless, he that is God Nevertheless, he left not himself without witness and that he did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons Filling our hearts with food and gladness so when you stop and think all of the providential things that God brings the pass in our lives or Actually a witness and a testimony to him. He gives us rain Just yesterday we were praying for rain and boy did the Lord send a very good one last night. But notice He said, it's not just rain but fruitful seasons. And then He fills our heart with food and with gladness.

[John Weaver] But let me point something else out. When we talk about God's providence, We also have to point out the fact that God does not forget us So I want you to go back in your Bibles to Psalm 40 and look if you would please at verse 5 Psalm 40 and verse 5 Here's a very interesting and enlightening verse Look in Psalm 14 verse 5 And David says, Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done. So again, he talks about the wonderful works of God. But note the rest of the verse. And thy thoughts which are to usward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee.

[John Weaver] If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. So has it ever dawned upon you that God thinks about you individually? what He says, and by thoughts which are to usward. God thinks about us. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee, and if I would declare and speak of them there more than can be numbered. So, it is an amazing thing that the Sovereign God of heaven and earth condescends to think of His people, and to think of His creatures, and to think of sinners.

[John Weaver] Now, He may not forget us, But the truth of the matter is, in our sin, in our disobedience, in our rebellion, oftentimes we forget about Him. We assume presume upon His mercy and grace. We assume that God is going to continue to bless us even regardless of our conduct, and even regardless of whether or not we thank Him. And we presume upon His grace and mercy almost to the point that we think that often times He owes us these things.

[John Weaver] When in reality He does not owe us anything. And the truth of the matter is Many times when God blesses us, we fail to acknowledge and thank Him for all of those blessings. Let me show you another passage. Remember, if you would, Psalm 40 and verse 5 where He says, And thy thoughts which are to usward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee. David said if I would declare and speak of them there are more than can be numbered so God oftentimes thinks of us, but if you look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah chapter 2 and verse 32 Jeremiah 2 and verse 32 note if you would want God to ask Here's a very good question God asked a cat a maid forget her ornaments or a bride her attire Yet my people have forgotten me days without number Wow, I Believe there's a very clear implication in verse 32 of Jeremiah chapter 2 and that implication is that we think about and We remember things that are important to us.

[John Weaver] I He asked the question can a maid forget her ornaments? There's not a woman in the world that would forget her jewelry There's not a maiden in the world a bride who's going to forget her bridal attire The reason a woman's not going to forget her jewelry. It's important to her The reason a bride is not going to forget her her bridal gown It's important to her and the reason a man's not gonna forget his work. It's important to him.

[John Weaver] I We think about and we remember those things that are reported to us. But God says, My people have forgotten Me days without number. Unhappily, the truth of the matter is, remembering God and thinking about Him and all of His blessings and all of His grace and mercy to us is really low on our list of priorities. And that's why he said, my people have forgotten me days without number. We forget his works. We forget his marvels. We forget his blessings.

[John Weaver] And we fail to acknowledge him in every area of our life. So let me ask you a question. When is the last time that you have stopped? And even considered as well as thank God for all the blessings that he's given unto you. And you have to remember this. blessing the blessings of sleep and rest or something that you and I enjoy on a regular basis knowing that how about the food that he provides and not just the food how about the ability to eat that food and enjoy that food this past week Alice and I went out to a restaurant and I noticed a man across from me who is at a table in a wheelchair and I watched his wife as she would put the spoon in the food and lift it up and he would eat from the spoon. And I could not help but just say, Lord, thank you for letting me be able to feed myself and to enjoy the food that I'm eating. I don't even know that he knew that he was eating.

[John Weaver] But you have to understand that this is the blessing of God. And have you ever really thought about your life and your health? And it's God who sustains us and nourishes us. Have you ever stopped and think about that it is God who enables you to do what you can do? The older I get, the more I appreciate the fact that God allows me to do a lot of things that a lot of people do not get to do at my age.

[John Weaver] And I'm at least 21 now, Brother Francis, so I mean, you know. So you have to stop and think. Here are a multitude of blessings and the fact is many of the people that Alice and I went to school with are in nursing homes, in wheelchairs, many of them are dead. And when you stop and think, we breathe God's air, we walk on His earth, He gives us the ability to work and to enjoy all the beauties of His creation. Many times I'm just absolutely astounded at what I see when I go out in the forest. I don't know about you, but I have often thought about just thanking God for the oceans.

[John Weaver] for the mountains, for the swamps, for the trees. I have a picture on my cell phone that I took in the woods, I guess, last year. You know, these vine wreaths that everybody likes to hang on their doors. I've got a picture of one that formed naturally in the woods. I thought, my goodness, look at that. And it's just hanging there from one of the trees. And the grapevine is just growing round and round and round. and it is just a wreath hanging there.

[John Weaver] And you stop and think about here God has allowed us to see these things and enjoy these things. I came across an article some time ago and this article was actually posted on October 20, 2008. And the title of it is, The True Seven Wonders of the World. And let me just read this to you. It says, Junior high school students in Chicago were studying the seven wonders of the world. At the end of the lesson, the students were asked to list what they considered to be the seven wonders of the world.

[John Weaver] Though there was some disagreement, the following received the most votes. Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Taj Mahal in India, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, St. Peter's Basilica, and China's Great Wall. While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, had not yet turned in her paper. She asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, yes, a little.

[John Weaver] I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many. The teacher said, well, tell us what you have and maybe we can help. The girl hesitated then read, I think the seven wonders of the world are to touch, to taste, to see, to hear. And then she hesitated a little and added to feel, to laugh and to love. The article said the room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. You know, Most of us have never thought about the ability to touch or to feel. Those of us who are half deaf have thought about the ability to hear. Those who are nearly blind think about the ability to see, but even tasting. I mean, laughing, loving. I mean, when you stop and think of all the blessings that you and I experience, We take for granted and we never even think of them and yet of course They're here God has given them. So the question would be when is the last time that you have thanked God for those things?

[John Weaver] You know and as bad as things are at times We can still thank God. They're not worse. It could be an awful lot worse Now I haven't forgotten Psalm 105. I'm going to come back to that, but I want to show you a bunch of passages to try to set you up for what I want to share with you from Psalm 105. So I want you to turn to Psalm 103, and let's look at the first five verses. Psalm 103. Remember, we're coming back to Psalm 105, but look if you would at Psalm 103, and let's read the first five verses. Look what David says.

[John Weaver] Bless the Lord O my soul and all that is within me. Bless his holy name. Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all his benefits. Don't forget these benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who eateth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving kindness and tender mercies, who satisfies thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.

[John Weaver] Now, a look at verse 1. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me. In other words, it's not just a half-hearted blessing the Lord and praising Him. It's with everything within Him. Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all thy benefits. Now look at this verse 3. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities.

[John Weaver] Now each one of us is a sinner. Each one of us has sinned and each one of us has done things That we wish we had never done And we've done things that we wish we could forget But they are there and when you stop and think That God knew about each and every sin and yet he forgives all thine iniquities not nearly every one of them not almost everyone but he forgives all of thine iniquities and the Bible says he puts them behind his back he buries them in the depth of the sea he takes them as far as the east is from the west so David can say, bless the Lord

[John Weaver] O my soul and all that is within me. Why? Because He forgiveth all thine iniquities. And he says, who healeth all thy diseases. And stop and think about this. Every one of us has been sick and gotten well. It doesn't matter if you're talking about the flu, or cancer, or polio, or whatever. And someone says, well, some of my loved ones got sick and died. Well, if they were Christians, they're not sick anymore. He still healed all of those diseases. That is a fact. So he says we can bless the Lord there Then he says in verse 4 who redeemeth our life from destruction Stop and think how many times God has preserved us. How many times God has saved us you and I Could probably talk about car wrecks fires tornadoes hurricanes, whatever.

[John Weaver] I And we can say, wow, God just miraculously took care of us in that occasion. But think of all the times that God saved our lives that we weren't even aware of the fact that we were in danger. And then he said, who crowned thee with loving kindness and tender mercies. All of that is upon us. And then he says in verse five, who satisfied thy mouth with good things. You're able to eat and enjoy so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to point out something that most of us have never really thought about. He says in verse 5 that God not only satisfies our mouth with good things, but he renews our youth like the eagle. I want to give you two quotes. One of them is by Joseph Carl. And Joseph Carl preached years and years just out of the book of Job. But he wrote this concerning verse 5. He says, the renovation of his youth may be understood in three ways. Talking about Davids.

[John Weaver] First, as to the natural state or bodily strength. Second, as to his civil state or worldly successes, as to his honor and keenly renowned.

[John Weaver] Thirdly, as to his spiritual state, or the heightening of his gifts, graces, and comforts. It is probable David had found a declension in all of these and at last through the goodness of God and his blessing upon him the renewing of them all from that oldness to a youthfulness again was like that of Eagles now Matthew Henry goes a little bit farther and he says this The eagle is long-lived and as naturalists say when she is nearly a hundred years old Casts all her feathers indeed, she changes them in great measure every year at molting time, and fresh one comes, so that she becomes young again. When God, by His graces and comforts of the Spirit, recovers His people from their decays, and fills them with new life and joy, which is to them an earnest of eternal life and joy, then they may be said to return to the days of their youth." So the eagle molts and gets new feathers, and now begins to look young again. There was another article that I read some time ago about the eagle.

[John Weaver] The article went on to say that as an eagle aged, the beak on that eagle continued to grow and continued to curl. So that often the eagle now is unable to really eat. And so what the eagle would do, would get on a rock somewhere and take his beak and just keep rubbing it back and forth against that like you are sharpening a knife until he actually breaks part of that beak off and then it begins to grow like it should and he is able to eat again. Thus he retains the youthfulness or the ability to eat like he did in his youth. Well, God says we are going to be renewed like the eagle.

[John Weaver] Let me show you two passages. The first one is Psalm 92. The second one is Isaiah 40. So look in Psalm 92, and notice if you would please there, verses 13 through 15. Psalm 92, notice verse 13. The Bible says, they that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing. to show that the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Note, they shall still bring forth fruit in old age.

[John Weaver] In other words we retain the vigor, we retain the youthfulness. They shall be fat and flourishing. Then if you would turn over to Isaiah 40 because now you're going to see again a comparison to the eagle. Notice if you go to Isaiah 40 Notice if you would please verses 29 through 31 Isaiah 40 verse 29 The Bible talks about the grace and the mercy and the goodness of God in this passage Isaiah 40 verse 29 he that is God Giveth power to the faint and to them that have no might he increases strength the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. Watch, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Note if you would please, here is God's enabling power, enabling grace, strengthening grace, persevering grace. He enables us to by renewing our strength. And it's compared to mounting up with wings as eagles.

[John Weaver] And he said, We shall run and not be weary, and we shall walk and not faint. In other words, God is saying this is what it means to have the youth of an eagle where God just keeps us going. Isn't that amazing? Stop and think about this. I've told several people Alice and I probably outdo a lot of folks in their 30s and 40s And but it's only God's grace and God's strength and God's mercy that keeps us going That's exactly what he says right there. It's like the Eagles now.

[John Weaver] Let me show you this I want you to turn now to Psalm 107. I'm going to go back I'm going to go back to Psalm 105 and But I want you to see Psalm 107 because I want you to see another passage that deals with God's goodness God's blessings but also this passage now Reveals to us our duty our obligation and our responsibility that we have in Reference to all of God's blessings. So I want to begin by reading the first three verses Look at Psalm 107 beginning with verse 1.

[John Weaver] The psalmist says, Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from the hand of the enemy and gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south.

[John Weaver] Now, this psalm, of course, relates to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. And so the very first verse says we are to give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. Then verse 2 says, let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy. So if we have been redeemed from the hand of the enemy we have an obligation and we have a duty to say so. Years ago when Alice and I were first converted in this one church we would go to occasionally the pastor would stand up and say, We need to have a say-so meeting And he would quote this verse in other words what he was asking was this If god has blessed you if god has done something for you this week Say so And you would be given a few minutes to stand up and give a testimony to the grace and the mercy of god Let the redeemed of the lord say so now psalm 107 Is a psalm of praise I want to tell you how Spurgeon, Charles

[John Weaver] Haddon Spurgeon, divided this psalm. I'm not going to expound this psalm, but I'm going to give you these divisions and then I'm going to take you back and show them to you and show you a proper response based on each of these divisions. So here's the paragraph from Spurgeon. Here's what he said. The psalmist commences by dedicating his poem to the redeemed who have been gathered from captivity, verses 1-3. He then likens their history to that of travelers lost in the desert, verses 4-9.

[John Weaver] To that of prisoners in iron bondage, 10-16. To that of sick men, Psalm 17-22, and to that of Mariners tossed with Tempest 23-32. In the closing verses the judgment of God on the rebellious and the mercies of God to His own afflicted people are made the burden of this song, verses 33-42. And then the psalm closes with a sort of summing up in verse 43, which declares that those who study the works and ways of the Lord shall be sure to see and to praise His goodness. Now, like I said, it is not my intent to expound this psalm.

[John Weaver] But I do want to show you the proper response that is given to us from these divisions that Spurgeon has outlined for us. He talks about travelers lost in the desert. You remember how God led Israel through the desert. So, look in verse 4. The Bible says, they wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in naturally not out in the desert Hungry and thirsty their soul faded in them Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses And he led them forth by the right way Watch that they might go to a city of habitation. So here are travelers lost They are found. They are led to the right way. They're given to a city of habitation. What should be the response? Look at verses eight and nine.

[John Weaver] Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he God satisfied the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. So he says. If you have been delivered in this particular way, you should praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works.

[John Weaver] Now, look at the second one. Here we have it. the second one, that of prisoners, that of individuals in bondage. So, look if you would please beginning there in verse 10. He says, such as sit in darkness and in the shed of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against the words of God and condemned the counsel of the Most High. In other words they were condemned, but they were condemned rightly. Therefore he brought down their heart with labor they fell down and there was none to help that is Israel in Egypt Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he saved them out of their distresses He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death and break their bands and

[John Weaver] sunder so now they've been powerfully delivered what should be the response and That men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men for he God hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars in sunder So in each of these instances we're required to praise God Thirdly, there are those who've been delivered from sickness skip down to verse 17 fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities are afflicted and Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat." In other words, you get so sick you can't eat. And they draw near into the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He sent his word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions. Well, what should be your response when God? Sovereignly powerfully miraculously and marvelously healed you look in verse 21 and 22 Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men and let them Sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare his works with rejoicing Fourthly here's the division of sailors and mariners

[John Weaver] in a great war Notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 23. They that go down to the sea in ships, they that do business in great waters. These see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep for he God commandeth and raises up the stormy wind Which lifted up the waves thereof? They mount up as to the heaven they go down again to the depths their soul is melted because of trouble there in the midst of this storm they reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man or near their wits in it looks like they're gonna die and Then they cry unto the lord in their trouble and he bringeth them out of their distresses He maketh the storm a calm so that the waves are ever still Then are they glad because they be quiet.

[John Weaver] So we bring them under their desired haven. So here is God. Marvelously, miraculously rescued these people from a storm and brought them to their desired haven. What should be the response? Verse thirty one. Oh, that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt him also in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders. Isn't this amazing? When you look at this Psalm over and over the Scripture is saying, oh, that we would praise Him for His goodness.

[John Weaver] Now let me ask you a question. I know that you've praised God in times past for His goodness to you, but I don't know if you've noticed what the Scripture says or not, but it says very carefully and very clearly That men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men Have you ever stopped to think well Lord, I will praise you for this But there are multitudes who will not And so Lord, I just want to say thank you for them. I Can't make them thankful But I can acknowledge your blessings their behalf and that is what I want to do.

[John Weaver] Yesterday Alice and I and Andrew were praying for rain. We needed rain so desperately. And the Lord sent us a wonderful rain last night. And we were all rejoicing and it hit me there are a lot of people probably would not be thankful for that rain. And so I said, Lord I just want to thank You for them. I am thankful and I want to thank you for those who refuse to thank you and will not even acknowledge the fact this was your blessing.

[John Weaver] Well I will tell you this, I saw this with my own eyes, I saw it with my own eyes. When I was a boy there was a tremendous drought I think it was 1954 and all the farmers got together to have a prayer meeting to pray and ask the Lord to send rain. One man that I knew was pretty much an atheist. When I say an atheist, he was basically a drunk.

[John Weaver] And but he was a neighbor. He's a farmer. And my father went and invited him to the prayer meeting. Just to be neighborly. And this man laughed at my father, and he said, What good will that do?" Those men prayed, and that afternoon the Lord sent the rain, and I stood there and watched that rain fall right on our property, right up to his property line, and it did not cross onto his property. So, I'm just simply saying, yes, there are reasons to praise God very obviously.

[John Weaver] Now, I want to show you the last verse in this psalm. Look in Psalm 107 here. Look at it, very last verse. He says, verse 43,"'Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord.'" Wait a minute. Now he's been talking about all of God's marvelous blessings and all of his deliverances and everything that he's done for us now He says if you're wise You're going to observe these things and if you're going to observe these things and Thank God and praise him appropriately You are going to understand the loving kindness of the Lord. I Isn't that amazing? So if you don't thank God and if you don't contemplate these blessings You're never ever going to comprehend the loving-kindness of the Lord Now What I want you to do now is go back to Psalm 105 Because everything that I've showed you so far Is to really lay a foundation for what I want to give you in Psalm 105 You remember I asked you the question Why has God blessed you?

[John Weaver] Okay, let's read The first seven verses again Psalm 105 verse 1. Oh give thanks unto the Lord Call upon his name Make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him. Talk ye of all his wondrous works. Glory ye in his holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in his strength. Seek his face forevermore. Remember his marvelous works that he hath done, his wonders the judgments of his mouth. Oh, ye seed of Abraham, his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth. So when you look at these first seven verses, we're called upon to give thanks unto his name. We're commanded to make his deeds known among the people. We're to sing psalms unto him. We're to talk of his wondrous works. We're to glory in his name. We're to rejoice in him. We're to seek his face and we're to remember all of his marvelous works. Now, Let me tell you about Psalm 105 Psalm 105 recounts the miracles the wonders the marvels that God did in Egypt in delivering Israel out of the house of bondage Now before I share this with you, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1st Corinthians chapter 10 Because someone is going

[John Weaver] to ask has the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt got to do with me?" Well, I just want to show you. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10 the Apostle Paul takes what happened in Egypt and what happened to the children of Israel and he applies it to a New Testament church, to the church at Corinth. And he makes some astounding statements. So look in verse 1, he says,"'Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea.'" So we are talking about the deliverance from Egypt, we are talking about the Red Sea.

[John Weaver] "'And did all eat the same spiritual meat,' that is the heavenly manna that God sent, And did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness."

[John Weaver] Now look what he says. Now these things that happened to them, these things were our examples. To the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day, twenty and three thousand, that is Numbers 23. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of the serpents, that is in the book of Numbers. Neither murmur you, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the story, that is also in the book of Numbers." Now He says all these things happened to them for examples, and they are written for our admonition.

[John Weaver] whom the ends of the world are come." So he says everything that happened to Israel in the Old Testament has an application to us. So I want you to go back to Psalm 105 and I want to just show you some of the things that God did in Egypt. I want us to begin reading with verse 26. Anytime you see the word, He, it refers to God in this Psalm. let's begin with verse 26,"'He,' that is God, sent Moses, his servant, and Aaron whom he had chosen.

[John Weaver] They showed his signs among them and wonders in the land of Ham. He,' that is God, sent darkness and made it dark, and they rebelled not against his word. He turned their waters into blood and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and And there came diverse sorts of flies and lice and all their coasts.

[John Weaver] So you're getting the idea. He's talking about the 10 plagues here. Verse 32. He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land. He smoked their vines also in their fig trees and break the trees of their coasts. He spake and the locusts came and caterpillars and that without number. up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. He brought them forth also with silver and gold.

[John Weaver] There was not one feeble person among their tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them fell upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire be of light in the night. The people asked And he brought quails and satisfied them with the bread of heaven He opened the rock and the waters gushed out. They ran in dry places like a river For he remembered his holy promise and abraham his servant And he brought forth his people with joy and his chosen with gladness and he gave them the lands of the heathen And they inherited the labor of the people now. I want you to look at me just a moment I want to ask you some questions Here is the pressing question Why did God deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt? Why did God work all of these miracles, and all of these wonders, and all of these marvels for the children of Israel? Why did He lead them through the wilderness with a pillar of cloud by day, and a fire by night?

[John Weaver] Why did He provide for them the manna from Heaven? Why did He smite the rock and the water gushed out? Why did He supply all of their needs? In fact the Bible says their foot did not swell, their clothes did not rot. He took care of them. He preserved them. He brought them and gave them the land of the heathen land that they did not work for Crops that they did not plant fig trees that they did not he gave it all to them So here's my question.

[John Weaver] Why did God do that? Now let me rephrase and let me ask this question another way I Want to bring it up to par. Okay. Here it is. Why did God save you? I Why did God deliver you? Why has God given you life and health? Why has God allowed you to hear His Word? Why has God given you peace and possessions? Why has God satisfied your mouth with every good thing? Why has God given you a home? Why has God blessed you in innumerable ways? Here's the answer. The answer is the same for the second question as it is for the first question. Why did God do what he did for Israel? Why did God do what he's done for you?

[John Weaver] Look in your Bible Psalm 104. I'm sorry Psalm 105 verse 45. Here's the answer That they might observe his statutes and keep his laws Praise ye the Lord in other words God blessed us So that we would be obedient unto him Verse 44 he gave them the lands of the heathen and they inhabited or inherited the labor of the people that they might observe his statutes and Keep his laws praise ye the Lord Now, let me show you something. I want you to turn in your Bible. So Romans chapter 2 Romans chapter 2 and I want you to look at verse 4 Do you realize that God's goodness and God's blessings? lead you to repentance and Repentance leads you to obedience Look in Romans 2 in verse 4 the Bible asked or despises now the riches of his goodness and Forbearance and long-suffering not Knowing that the goodness of God leaded thee to repentance. Ah Two things here. Number one. It's the goodness of God that leads you to repentance. I Then he says or despises now the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering Do you realize if you and I do not repent if we are not obedient in actuality?

[John Weaver] We're despising all of God's goodness When only despising his goodness we're despising him Let me show you look in your Bibles if you would please to number chapter 14. Here's an excellent example Excellent application look at number chapter 14 Let me say this again as you turn to numbers chapter 14 Where there is no repentance there is no obedience and where there is no repentance and no obedience there is nothing less than a despising of God's goodness and hence a despising of God numbers chapter 14 look in verse 31 and You remember how the people said that God brought them out in that wilderness to kill them and to make their babies a prey Look what God says numbers 14 verse 31, but your little ones Which you said should be a prey then when

[John Weaver] I bring in and they shall know the land which you have what? despised So when they refused to obey God, they were despising God's promise. They were despising God's gift. They were despising God's blessing. God had given them the land. He said, go up and possess it. And they refused. And God says, that is a despising of my blessing. So when you and I do not take God's blessings and use them To improve our repentance and our obedience, we're in essence despising that which God has done for us.

[John Weaver] Now, I think our Lord made this exceedingly clear in John 14 in verse 15, when he made this simple statement. When he said, if you love me, what? Keep my commandments. If you love me keep my commandments So if we love our Lord and we love and appreciate all that he's done for us It leads us to repentance. It leads us to obedience Now listen to this one How about let me ask you this question Out of all the blessings that God has given you We can say out of all the blessings from the beginning of the time that you were born until now Out of all the blessings that God has bestowed upon you How many of them have you deserved Not one You know what Jacob said and Genesis 32 in verse 10 He said I'm not worthy of the least of thy mercies. I And when you think of how rebellious we have been, how depraved we are, how wicked and disobedient, and yet God has still showered us, even when we were unsaved, showered us with blessings.

[John Weaver] And when God blesses us, we cannot be lifted up with pride and arrogance because we don't deserve the least his mercies which should lead us to be more grateful more thankful and more appreciative now I want to take you back to 107 you don't have to turn there but the last verse because in that verse he said if you are wise and you will consider these things that is how God delivers and how God blesses Then you're going to understand the loving kindness of God. Do you realize without a proper consideration of the blessings of God in our lives? We will never really comprehend the loving kindness of God. We don't really realize how gracious, how kind, how loving God has really been to us.

[John Weaver] Just the fact that he's allowed us to live should be a tremendous blessing. And it should make us more grateful, more thankful, and more appreciative of everything that God does for us. If David handed me a thousand dollar bill today, and I just took it and walked off, I bet he would think, Of course, if he had a $1,000 bill, Janice would already have had it.

[John Weaver] I mean, I understand that. They don't even make them anymore, I don't think. But the point I'm trying to make is this. If he handed me a $1,000 bill and I took it and turned around and walked off and said nothing, not even a thank you, not even acknowledging it, I bet he would be thinking, huh, I won't do that again. What do you think? God's response to our unthankfulness and our ungratefulness really is when we just take his blessings one after the other and never acknowledge him and never acknowledge that he is the giver of all good things.

[John Weaver] We need to learn to be more appreciative and to be more thankful and to be more grateful. for every little blessing which God gives us because we do not deserve the least of his mercies. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to thee. We thank you for your word, your truth, your goodness, your kindness. And Father, we must confess that we have forgotten thee days without number.

[John Weaver] So many times we've been unthankful, ungrateful, unappreciative, So many times we've just assumed and presumed upon Your grace and Your mercy. Forgive us for our sins. Help us to praise and acknowledge Thee. And help us, Lord, to understand and comprehend Thy loving kindness to each of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen. ♪ ♪ you

Why Has God Blessed You?

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	_M-TZadILD8
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Holiness and Obedience
Genre	Sermon
Date	2018-10-10
Dictation Name
Book	Book 135: Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification - Volume 2 — Chapter 27
Source Timed Segments	66

Formatted Transcript

Introduction: The Multitude of God's Blessings

Weaver opens by reading Psalm 105:1-7 and posing the question, 'Why has God blessed you?' He asserts that God's blessings are so numerous they cannot be counted, citing Lamentations 3:22-23 and Job 5:9.

In our Bibles, to Psalm 105. Psalm 105. And we're going to read the first seven verses. Psalm 105. And notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 1. Psalm 105:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 105:1-7

"O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk ye of all His wondrous works, glory ye in His holy name, let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in His strength, seek His face evermore. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth. O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye children of Jacob His chosen. He is the Lord our God, His judgments are in all the earth."

The title of the message today is a question: Why has God blessed you? I could ask a very facetious question today and ask, have you been blessed by the Lord God?

And undoubtedly the answer would be a resounding yes. It is impossible to recount all of God's blessings. It is God who's given us life and health and love and family, silver, gold, money, a host of other blessings as well. And the truth is that we cannot number His blessings because they're so multitudinous. In fact, one of my favorite passages, which I quote regularly, is Lamentations 3:22-23, where the Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:22-23

"It is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness."

It is absolutely impossible to number the blessings that we just had yesterday. It's impossible to number the blessings that we had this morning. How much more would it be impossible then to try to number the blessings of a lifetime?

Now understand that there are many incidents and episodes that stand out in your mind, and you can see how God has preserved you so many times, and you can say, yes, I recount those and I recall those. But there are a multitude of others that you cannot recount and do not recall, and you cannot enumerate them because there are so many. The Bible says in the book of Job, chapter 5 and verse 9, talking about God,

Scripture Reading — Job 5:9

"Which doeth great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number."

So God does marvelous things without number. Then in Job 9, in verse 10, He says,

Scripture Reading — Job 5:9

"Which doeth great things past finding out, yea, and wonders without number."

So God performs wonders without number, and great things that are past finding out. So some of those marvelous wonders and some of those great things relate to God's providence.

God's Providential Care and Thoughts Toward Us

God's providence is a witness to His goodness (Acts 14:17). Psalm 40:5 reveals that God's thoughts toward us are more than can be numbered, yet we often forget Him (Jeremiah 2:32).

So I want you to hold Psalm 105; we are coming back there. But I want you to look in Acts chapter 14 at verse 17, because included in these wonderful works of God happens to be His marvelous providence. So Acts chapter 14 and verse 17, the Word of God says this:

Scripture Reading — Acts 14:17

"Nevertheless, He (that is God) left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."

So when you stop and think of all the providential things that God brings to pass in our lives, they are actually a witness and a testimony to Him. He gives us rain. Just yesterday we were praying for rain, and boy, did the Lord send a very good one last night. But notice, He said it's not just rain but fruitful seasons. And then He fills our heart with food and with gladness.

But let me point something else out. When we talk about God's providence, we also have to point out the fact that God does not forget us. So I want you to go back in your Bibles to Psalm 40 and look, if you would please, at verse 5. Psalm 40 and verse 5. Here's a very interesting and enlightening verse. Look in Psalm 40, verse 5. And David says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 40:5

"Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done."

So again, he talks about the wonderful works of God. But note the rest of the verse:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 40:5

"And thy thoughts which are to us-ward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee.

If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." So has it ever dawned upon you that God thinks about you individually? What He says, "and thy thoughts which are to us-ward." God thinks about us. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee, and if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. So it is an amazing thing that the sovereign God of heaven and earth condescends to think of His people, and to think of His creatures, and to think of sinners.

Now, He may not forget us, but the truth of the matter is, in our sin, in our disobedience, in our rebellion, oftentimes we forget about Him. We assume, presume upon His mercy and grace. We assume that God is going to continue to bless us even regardless of our conduct, and even regardless of whether or not we thank Him. And we presume upon His grace and mercy almost to the point that we think that oftentimes He owes us these things.

When in reality He does not owe us anything. And the truth of the matter is, many times when God blesses us, we fail to acknowledge and thank Him for all of those blessings. Let me show you another passage. Remember, if you would, Psalm 40 and verse 5 where He says, "And thy thoughts which are to us-ward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee." David said, "If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." So God oftentimes thinks of us. But if you look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 2 and verse 32. Jeremiah 2 and verse 32. Note, if you would, what God asks. Here's a very good question. God asked,

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 2:32

"Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number."

Wow. I believe there's a very clear implication in verse 32 of Jeremiah chapter 2, and that implication is that we think about and we remember things that are important to us.

He asked the question, "Can a maid forget her ornaments?" There's not a woman in the world that would forget her jewelry. There's not a maiden in the world, a bride, who's going to forget her bridal attire. The reason a woman's not going to forget her jewelry: it's important to her. The reason a bride is not going to forget her bridal gown: it's important to her. And the reason a man's not going to forget his work: it's important to him. We think about and we remember those things that are important to us. But God says, "My people have forgotten Me days without number." Unhappily, the truth of the matter is, remembering God and thinking about Him and all of His blessings and all of His grace and mercy to us is really low on our list of priorities. And that's why He said, "My people have forgotten Me days without number." We forget His works. We forget His marvels. We forget His blessings.

The Danger of Forgetting God's Blessings

We remember what is important to us, but God's people forget Him days without number. Weaver challenges listeners to consider when they last thanked God for basic blessings like sleep, food, and health.

And we fail to acknowledge Him in every area of our life. So let me ask you a question. When is the last time that you have stopped and even considered, as well as thanked God, for all the blessings that He's given unto you? And you have to remember this: the blessings of sleep and rest are something that you and I enjoy on a regular basis. How about the food that He provides? And not just the food, how about the ability to eat that food and enjoy that food? This past week, Alice and I went out to a restaurant, and I noticed a man across from me who was at a table in a wheelchair, and I watched his wife as she would put the spoon in the food and lift it up, and he would eat from the spoon. And I could not help but just say, "Lord, thank You for letting me be able to feed myself and to enjoy the food that I'm eating." I don't even know that he knew that he was eating.

But you have to understand that this is the blessing of God. And have you ever really thought about your life and your health? And it's God who sustains us and nourishes us. Have you ever stopped and thought about that it is God who enables you to do what you can do? The older I get, the more I appreciate the fact that God allows me to do a lot of things that a lot of people do not get to do at my age. And I'm at least 21 now, Brother Francis, so I mean, you know. So you have to stop and think. Here are a multitude of blessings, and the fact is many of the people that Alice and I went to school with are in nursing homes, in wheelchairs, many of them are dead. And when you stop and think, we breathe God's air, we walk on His earth, He gives us the ability to work and to enjoy all the beauties of His creation. Many times I'm just absolutely astounded at what I see when I go out in the forest. I don't know about you, but I have often thought about just thanking God for the oceans.

The True Seven Wonders of the World

A story about a student who listed touch, taste, sight, hearing, feeling, laughter, and love as the seven wonders illustrates how we take everyday blessings for granted.

Though there was some disagreement, the following received the most votes: Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Taj Mahal in India, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, St. Peter's Basilica, and China's Great Wall. While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, had not yet turned in her paper. She asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, 'Yes, a little.' 'I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many.' The teacher said, 'Well, tell us what you have and maybe we can help.' The girl hesitated, then read, 'I think the seven wonders of the world are to touch, to taste, to see, to hear.' And then she hesitated a little and added, 'to feel, to laugh, and to love.' The article said the room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. You know, most of us have never thought about the ability to touch or to feel. Those of us who are half deaf have thought about the ability to hear. Those who are nearly blind think about the ability to see, but even tasting. I mean, laughing, loving. I mean, when you stop and think of all the blessings that you and I experience, we take for granted and we never even think of them. And yet, of course, they're here; God has given them. So the question would be, when is the last time that you have thanked God for those things?

Blessing the Lord for His Benefits (Psalm 103)

Psalm 103:1-5 calls us to bless the Lord with all our soul and not forget His benefits: forgiveness, healing, redemption, lovingkindness, and satisfaction. The renewal of youth like the eagle is explored.

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Don't forget these benefits. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles." Now, look at verse 1. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me." In other words, it's not just a half-hearted blessing the Lord and praising Him. It's with everything within Him. "Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all thy benefits." Now look at verse 3. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities."

Now each one of us is a sinner. Each one of us has sinned, and each one of us has done things that we wish we had never done, and we've done things that we wish we could forget. But they are there. And when you stop and think that God knew about each and every sin, and yet He forgives all thine iniquities—not nearly every one of them, not almost everyone, but He forgives all of thine iniquities. And the Bible says He puts them behind His back, He buries them in the depth of the sea, He takes them as far as the east is from the west. So David can say, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me." Why? Because He forgiveth all thine iniquities. And he says, "Who healeth all thy diseases." And stop and think about this. Every one of us has been sick and gotten well. It doesn't matter if you're talking about the flu, or cancer, or polio, or whatever. And someone says, "Well, some of my loved ones got sick and died." Well, if they were Christians, they're not sick anymore. He still healed all of those diseases. That is a fact. So he says we can bless the Lord there. Then he says in verse 4, "Who redeemeth our life from destruction." Stop and think how many times God has preserved us. How many times God has saved us. You and I could probably talk about car wrecks, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, whatever.

And we can say, "Wow, God just miraculously took care of us in that occasion." But think of all the times that God saved our lives that we weren't even aware of the fact that we were in danger. And then he said, "Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies." All of that is upon us. And then he says in verse 5, "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things." You're able to eat and enjoy so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. Now, I want to point out something that most of us have never really thought about. He says in verse 5 that God not only satisfies our mouth with good things, but He renews our youth like the eagle. I want to give you two quotes. One of them is by Joseph Caryl. And Joseph Caryl preached years and years just out of the book of Job. But he wrote this concerning verse 5. He says, "The renovation of his youth may be understood in three ways." Talking about David's.

First, as to the natural state or bodily strength. Second, as to his civil state or worldly successes, as to his honor and kingly renown. Thirdly, as to his spiritual state, or the heightening of his gifts, graces, and comforts. It is probable David had found a declension in all of these, and at last through the goodness of God and His blessing upon him, the renewing of them all from that oldness to a youthfulness again was like that of eagles. Now Matthew Henry goes a little bit farther, and he says this: "The eagle is long-lived, and as naturalists say, when she is nearly a hundred years old, casts all her feathers (indeed, she changes them in great measure every year at molting time), and fresh ones come, so that she becomes young again. When God, by His graces and comforts of the Spirit, recovers His people from their decays, and fills them with new life and joy, which is to them an earnest of eternal life and joy, then they may be said to return to the days of their youth." So the eagle molts and gets new feathers, and now begins to look young again. There was another article that I read some time ago about the eagle.

The article went on to say that as an eagle aged, the beak on that eagle continued to grow and continued to curl, so that often the eagle now is unable to really eat. And so what the eagle would do, would get on a rock somewhere and take his beak and just keep rubbing it back and forth against that like you are sharpening a knife until he actually breaks part of that beak off, and then it begins to grow like it should, and he is able to eat again. Thus he retains the youthfulness or the ability to eat like he did in his youth. Well, God says we are going to be renewed like the eagle. Let me show you two passages. The first one is Psalm 92. The second one is Isaiah 40. So look in Psalm 92, and notice if you would please there, verses 13 through 15. Psalm 92, notice verse 13. The Bible says,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 92:13-15

"They that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing, to show that the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."

Note,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 92:13-15

"They shall still bring forth fruit in old age."

The Obligation to Praise: Lessons from Psalm 107

Psalm 107 outlines various deliverances (travelers, prisoners, sick, sailors) and the repeated refrain to praise God for His goodness. The redeemed are to 'say so' and give thanks.

Now, let me show you this. I want you to turn now to Psalm 107. I'm going to go back to Psalm 105, but I want you to see Psalm 107 because I want you to see another passage that deals with God's goodness, God's blessings, but also this passage now reveals to us our duty, our obligation, and our responsibility that we have in reference to all of God's blessings. So I want to begin by reading the first three verses. Look at Psalm 107, beginning with verse 1. The psalmist says, "Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south."

Now, this psalm, of course, relates to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. And so the very first verse says we are to give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. Then verse 2 says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." So if we have been redeemed from the hand of the enemy, we have an obligation and we have a duty to say so. Years ago, when Alice and I were first converted, in this one church we would go to occasionally, the pastor would stand up and say, "We need to have a say-so meeting." And he would quote this verse. In other words, what he was asking was this: if God has blessed you, if God has done something for you this week, say so. And you would be given a few minutes to stand up and give a testimony to the grace and the mercy of God. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." Now Psalm 107 is a psalm of praise. I want to tell you how Spurgeon, Charles

Haddon Spurgeon, divided this psalm. I'm not going to expound this psalm, but I'm going to give you these divisions and then I'm going to take you back and show them to you and show you a proper response based on each of these divisions. So here's the paragraph from Spurgeon. Here's what he said: "The psalmist commences by dedicating his poem to the redeemed who have been gathered from captivity, verses 1-3. He then likens their history to that of travelers lost in the desert, verses 4-9. To that of prisoners in iron bondage, 10-16. To that of sick men, 17-22, and to that of mariners tossed with tempest, 23-32. In the closing verses, the judgment of God on the rebellious and the mercies of God to His own afflicted people are made the burden of this song, verses 33-42. And then the psalm closes with a sort of summing up in verse 43, which declares that those who study the works and ways of the Lord shall be sure to see and to praise His goodness." Now, like I said, it is not my intent to expound this psalm.

But I do want to show you the proper response that is given to us from these divisions that Spurgeon has outlined for us. He talks about travelers lost in the desert. You remember how God led Israel through the desert. So, look in verse 4. The Bible says, "They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in." Naturally, not out in the desert. "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way"—watch—"that they might go to a city of habitation." So here are travelers lost. They are found. They are led to the right way. They're given to a city of habitation. What should be the response? Look at verses 8 and 9.

"Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. For He (God) satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." So he says, if you have been delivered in this particular way, you should praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works. Now, look at the second one. Here we have the second one, that of prisoners, that of individuals in bondage. So, look if you would please beginning there in verse 10. He says, "Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against the words of God and contemned the counsel of the Most High." In other words, they were condemned, but they were condemned rightly. "Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help." That is Israel in Egypt. "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in

sunder." So now they've been powerfully delivered. What should be the response? "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. For He (God) hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars in sunder." So in each of these instances, we're required to praise God. Thirdly, there are those who've been delivered from sickness. Skip down to verse 17. "Fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat." In other words, you get so sick you can't eat. "And they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions." Well, what should be your response when God sovereignly, powerfully, miraculously, and marvelously healed you? Look in verses 21 and 22. "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing." Fourthly, here's the division of sailors and mariners

in a great storm. Notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 23. "They that go down to the sea in ships, they that do business in great waters. These see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. For He (God) commandeth and raiseth up the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. There in the midst of this storm, they reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, or near their wits' end, and it looks like they're going to die. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves are ever still. Then are they glad because they be quiet.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 107:23-32

So He bringeth them unto their desired haven." So here is God marvelously, miraculously rescued these people from a storm and brought them to their desired haven. What should be the response? Verse 31. "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people and praise Him in the assembly of the elders."

Isn't this amazing? When you look at this psalm, over and over the Scripture is saying, "Oh, that we would praise Him for His goodness."

Now let me ask you a question. I know that you've praised God in times past for His goodness to you, but I don't know if you've noticed what the Scripture says or not, but it says very carefully and very clearly, "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men." Have you ever stopped to think, "Well, Lord, I will praise You for this, but there are multitudes who will not. And so, Lord, I just want to say thank You for them. I can't make them thankful, but I can acknowledge Your blessings on their behalf, and that is what I want to do."

Understanding Lovingkindness Through Observation

Psalm 107:43 teaches that the wise who observe God's works will understand His lovingkindness. Weaver shares a personal story of God sending rain on one property but not an atheist neighbor's.

Yesterday, Alice and I and Andrew were praying for rain. We needed rain so desperately. And the Lord sent us a wonderful rain last night. And we were all rejoicing, and it hit me: there are a lot of people probably would not be thankful for that rain. And so I said, "Lord, I just want to thank You for them. I am thankful, and I want to thank You for those who refuse to thank You and will not even acknowledge the fact this was Your blessing." Well, I will tell you this, I saw this with my own eyes, I saw it with my own eyes. When I was a boy, there was a tremendous drought, I think it was 1954, and all the farmers got together to have a prayer meeting to pray and ask the Lord to send rain. One man that I knew was pretty much an atheist. When I say an atheist, he was basically a drunk.

And but he was a neighbor. He's a farmer. And my father went and invited him to the prayer meeting, just to be neighborly. And this man laughed at my father, and he said, "What good will that do?" Those men prayed, and that afternoon the Lord sent the rain, and I stood there and watched that rain fall right on our property, right up to his property line, and it did not cross onto his property. So, I'm just simply saying, yes, there are reasons to praise God very obviously.

Now, I want to show you the last verse in this psalm. Look in Psalm 107 here. Look at it, very last verse. He says, verse 43,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 107:43

"Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord."

Wait a minute. Now he's been talking about all of God's marvelous blessings and all of His deliverances and everything that He's done for us. Now He says, if you're wise, you're going to observe these things, and if you're going to observe these things and thank God and praise Him appropriately, you are going to understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. Isn't that amazing? So if you don't thank God and if you don't contemplate these blessings, you're never ever going to comprehend the lovingkindness of the Lord. Now, what I want you to do now is go back to Psalm 105, because everything that I've showed you so far is to really lay a foundation for what I want to give you in Psalm 105. You remember I asked you the question: Why has God blessed you?

Okay, let's read the first seven verses again. Psalm 105, verse 1. "Oh give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him. Talk ye of all His wondrous works. Glory ye in His holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in His strength, seek His face forevermore. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders, the judgments of His mouth. Oh, ye seed of Abraham, His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth." So when you look at these first seven verses, we're called upon to give thanks unto His name. We're commanded to make His deeds known among the people. We're to sing psalms unto Him. We're to talk of His wondrous works. We're to glory in His name. We're to rejoice in Him. We're to seek His face, and we're to remember all of His marvelous works. Now, let me tell you about Psalm 105. Psalm 105 recounts the miracles, the wonders, the marvels that God did in Egypt in delivering Israel out of the house of bondage. Now before I share this with you, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, because someone is going

The Purpose of Blessings: Obedience (Psalm 105:45)

Returning to Psalm 105, Weaver recounts God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt and asks why God did it. The answer in verse 45 is 'that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws.' This applies to believers today.

Now, I want to show you the last verse in this psalm. Look in Psalm 107 here. Look at it, very last verse. He says, verse 43,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 107:43

"Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord."

to ask, "What has the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt got to do with me?" Well, I just want to show you. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the Apostle Paul takes what happened in Egypt and what happened to the children of Israel and he applies it to a New Testament church, to the church at Corinth. And he makes some astounding statements. So look in verse 1, he says,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 10:1-11

"Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea."

So we are talking about the deliverance from Egypt, we are talking about the Red Sea.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 10:1-11

"And did all eat the same spiritual meat,"

that is the heavenly manna that God sent,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 10:1-11

"and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness."

Now look what he says. "Now these things that happened to them, these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.' Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day twenty and three thousand," that is Numbers 25. "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of the serpents," that is in the book of Numbers. "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer," that is also in the book of Numbers. Now He says, "All these things happened to them for examples, and they are written for our admonition,

upon whom the ends of the world are come." So he says everything that happened to Israel in the Old Testament has an application to us. So I want you to go back to Psalm 105, and I want to just show you some of the things that God did in Egypt. I want us to begin reading with verse 26. Anytime you see the word "He," it refers to God in this psalm. Let's begin with verse 26: "He (that is God) sent Moses, His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen. They showed His signs among them and wonders in the land of Ham. He (that is God) sent darkness and made it dark, and they rebelled not against His word. He turned their waters into blood and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came diverse sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts.

So you're getting the idea. He's talking about the ten plagues here. Verse 32: "He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also and their fig trees and brake the trees of their coasts. He spake, and the locusts came and caterpillars, and that without number, and did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. He brought them forth also with silver and gold.

There was not one feeble person among their tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them fell upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night. The people asked, and He brought quails and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in dry places like a river. For He remembered His holy promise and Abraham His servant. And He brought forth His people with joy and His chosen with gladness, and He gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labor of the people." Now, I want you to look at me just a moment. I want to ask you some questions. Here is the pressing question: Why did God deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt? Why did God work all of these miracles, and all of these wonders, and all of these marvels for the children of Israel? Why did He lead them through the wilderness with a pillar of cloud by day, and a fire by night?

Why did He provide for them the manna from heaven? Why did He smite the rock and the water gushed out? Why did He supply all of their needs? In fact, the Bible says their foot did not swell, their clothes did not rot. He took care of them. He preserved them. He brought them and gave them the land of the heathen, land that they did not work for, crops that they did not plant, fig trees that they did not—He gave it all to them. So here's my question.

Why did God do that? Now let me rephrase and let me ask this question another way. I want to bring it up to par. Okay. Here it is. Why did God save you? Why did God deliver you? Why has God given you life and health? Why has God allowed you to hear His Word? Why has God given you peace and possessions? Why has God satisfied your mouth with every good thing? Why has God given you a home? Why has God blessed you in innumerable ways? Here's the answer. The answer is the same for the second question as it is for the first question. Why did God do what He did for Israel? Why did God do what He's done for you?

Look in your Bible, Psalm 105, verse 45. Here's the answer:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 105:26-45

"That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise ye the Lord."

In other words, God blessed us so that we would be obedient unto Him. Verse 44:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 105:26-45

"He gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labor of the people, that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise ye the Lord."

Now, let me show you something. I want you to turn in your Bible to Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2, and I want you to look at verse 4. Do you realize that God's goodness and God's blessings lead you to repentance, and repentance leads you to obedience? Look in Romans 2, in verse 4. The Bible asks, "Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Ah. Two things here. Number one, it's the goodness of God that leads you to repentance. Then he says, "Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering?" Do you realize if you and I do not repent, if we are not obedient, in actuality

Blessings Lead to Repentance, Not Despising God

Romans 2:4 says God's goodness leads to repentance. Numbers 14:31 shows that disobedience is despising God's blessings. Jesus said, 'If you love Me, keep My commandments' (John 14:15).

we're despising all of God's goodness? When we're despising His goodness, we're despising Him. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Numbers chapter 14. Here's an excellent example, excellent application. Look at Numbers chapter 14. Let me say this again as you turn to Numbers chapter 14: Where there is no repentance, there is no obedience, and where there is no repentance and no obedience, there is nothing less than a despising of God's goodness and hence a despising of God. Numbers chapter 14, look in verse 31. You remember how the people said that God brought them out in that wilderness to kill them and to make their babies a prey. Look what God says. Numbers 14, verse 31: "But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them

will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have"—what?—"despised." So when they refused to obey God, they were despising God's promise. They were despising God's gift. They were despising God's blessing. God had given them the land. He said, "Go up and possess it." And they refused. And God says, "That is a despising of My blessing." So when you and I do not take God's blessings and use them to improve our repentance and our obedience, we're in essence despising that which God has done for us.

Now, I think our Lord made this exceedingly clear in John 14, in verse 15, when He made this simple statement. When He said, "If you love Me," what? "Keep My commandments." "If you love Me, keep My commandments." So if we love our Lord and we love and appreciate all that He's done for us, it leads us to repentance. It leads us to obedience. Now listen to this one. How about let me ask you this question: Out of all the blessings that God has given you—we can say out of all the blessings from the beginning of the time that you were born until now—out of all the blessings that God has bestowed upon you, how many of them have you deserved? Not one. You know what Jacob said in Genesis 32, in verse 10? He said, "I am not worthy of the least of Thy mercies." And when you think of how rebellious we have been, how depraved we are, how wicked and disobedient, and yet God has still showered us, even when we were unsaved, showered us with blessings.

Conclusion: Undeserved Mercy and the Call to Gratitude

We deserve none of God's mercies (Genesis 32:10). Unthankfulness is a serious offense. Weaver urges greater appreciation and thanks for every blessing, closing in prayer.

And when God blesses us, we cannot be lifted up with pride and arrogance because we don't deserve the least of His mercies, which should lead us to be more grateful, more thankful, and more appreciative. Now I want to take you back to 107—you don't have to turn there—but the last verse, because in that verse he said, if you are wise and you will consider these things, that is how God delivers and how God blesses, then you're going to understand the lovingkindness of God. Do you realize without a proper consideration of the blessings of God in our lives, we will never really comprehend the lovingkindness of God? We don't really realize how gracious, how kind, how loving God has really been to us. Just the fact that He's allowed us to live should be a tremendous blessing. And it should make us more grateful, more thankful, and more appreciative of everything that God does for us. If David handed me a thousand dollar bill today, and I just took it and walked off, I bet he would think—of course, if he had a $1,000 bill, Janice would already have had it.

I mean, I understand that. They don't even make them anymore, I don't think. But the point I'm trying to make is this: If he handed me a $1,000 bill and I took it and turned around and walked off and said nothing, not even a thank you, not even acknowledging it, I bet he would be thinking, "Huh, I won't do that again." What do you think God's response to our unthankfulness and our ungratefulness really is when we just take His blessings one after the other and never acknowledge Him and never acknowledge that He is the giver of all good things? We need to learn to be more appreciative and to be more thankful and to be more grateful for every little blessing which God gives us, because we do not deserve the least of His mercies. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word, Your truth, Your goodness, Your kindness. And Father, we must confess that we have forgotten Thee days without number.

So many times we've been unthankful, ungrateful, unappreciative. So many times we've just assumed and presumed upon Your grace and Your mercy. Forgive us for our sins. Help us to praise and acknowledge Thee. And help us, Lord, to understand and comprehend Thy lovingkindness to each of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

Study Guide

Major Themes

The Innumerability of God's Blessings

Summary: God's blessings are so numerous they cannot be counted, including life, health, provision, and daily mercies.

Evidence: Weaver cites Lamentations 3:22-23, Job 5:9, and Psalm 40:5 to emphasize that God's works and thoughts toward us are beyond numbering.

Human Forgetfulness and Ingratitude

Summary: Despite God's constant blessings, people often forget Him and fail to give thanks, prioritizing other things.

Evidence: Jeremiah 2:32 is used to show that while people remember what is important to them, they forget God days without number.

The Proper Response to Blessings: Praise and Thanksgiving

Summary: The redeemed are called to praise God, declare His works, and give thanks for His goodness and wonderful works.

Evidence: Psalm 107 repeatedly says, 'Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness,' and verse 2 says, 'Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.'

Blessings as a Means to Repentance and Obedience

Summary: God's goodness is intended to lead us to repentance, and the ultimate purpose of His blessings is that we might keep His commandments.

Evidence: Romans 2:4 says the goodness of God leads to repentance. Psalm 105:45 states the purpose of blessings is 'that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws.'

The Danger of Despising God's Goodness

Summary: Failure to repent and obey in response to blessings is equivalent to despising God's goodness and God Himself.

Evidence: Numbers 14:31 shows that Israel's refusal to enter the land was despising God's promise. Romans 2:4 warns against despising the riches of His goodness.

Understanding God's Lovingkindness Through Observation

Summary: Wise observation of God's works leads to a deeper comprehension of His lovingkindness.

Evidence: Psalm 107:43 states, 'Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.'

Key Arguments

God's blessings are undeserved and should produce humility and gratitude.

Summary: Since we do not deserve the least of God's mercies, we should be more grateful and not lifted up with pride.

Evidence: Weaver quotes Jacob in Genesis 32:10: 'I am not worthy of the least of Thy mercies,' and emphasizes that all blessings are undeserved.

Forgetting God's blessings is a sign of misplaced priorities.

Summary: People remember what is important to them; forgetting God indicates He is not a priority.

Evidence: Jeremiah 2:32 contrasts a bride not forgetting her attire with God's people forgetting Him days without number.

Praise is a commanded response to deliverance.

Summary: Psalm 107 repeatedly commands praise for God's goodness in various deliverances, and the redeemed are to 'say so.'

Evidence: The refrain 'Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness' appears in verses 8, 15, 21, and 31 of Psalm 107.

The ultimate purpose of God's blessings is obedience.

Summary: Psalm 105:45 explicitly states that God blessed Israel so they would keep His laws, and this principle applies to believers.

Evidence: Psalm 105:45: 'That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise ye the Lord.'

Unthankfulness is a serious offense against God.

Summary: Failing to thank God for His blessings is akin to despising His goodness and can provoke His displeasure.

Evidence: Weaver uses the analogy of receiving a $1,000 bill without thanks and asks what God thinks of our unthankfulness.

Scripture References

Psalm 105:1-7

Context: Opening reading; calls for thanksgiving, praise, and remembrance of God's works.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Context: Cited to show God's mercies are new every morning and we are not consumed.

Job 5:9

Context: God does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.

Job 9:10

Context: God does great things past finding out, wonders without number.

Acts 14:17

Context: God's providence in giving rain, fruitful seasons, food, and gladness is a witness.

Psalm 40:5

Context: God's wonderful works and thoughts toward us are more than can be numbered.

Jeremiah 2:32

Context: God's people have forgotten Him days without number, unlike a bride who remembers her attire.

Psalm 103:1-5

Context: Bless the Lord and forget not His benefits: forgiveness, healing, redemption, lovingkindness, satisfaction.

Psalm 92:13-15

Context: Those planted in God's house will still bring forth fruit in old age.

Isaiah 40:29-31

Context: Those who wait on the Lord renew their strength and mount up with wings as eagles.

Psalm 107:1-3

Context: Give thanks to the Lord for His mercy endures forever; let the redeemed say so.

Psalm 107:4-9

Context: Travelers lost in the desert cried to God and were delivered; response: praise God for His goodness.

Psalm 107:10-16

Context: Prisoners in bondage cried to God and were delivered; response: praise God for breaking gates of brass.

Psalm 107:17-22

Context: Sick men cried to God and were healed; response: sacrifice thanksgiving and declare His works.

Psalm 107:23-32

Context: Sailors in a storm cried to God and were brought to haven; response: exalt Him in the congregation.

Psalm 107:43

Context: The wise who observe these things will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 10:1-11

Context: Old Testament events happened as examples for us, written for our admonition.

Psalm 105:26-45

Context: Recounts God's plagues, deliverance, and provision for Israel; purpose in verse 45: that they might keep His laws.

Romans 2:4

Context: The goodness of God leads to repentance; despising His goodness is warned against.

Numbers 14:31

Context: Israel's refusal to enter the land was despising God's promise.

Historical References

Joseph Caryl

Context: A preacher who wrote on Job; quoted regarding the renewal of youth like the eagle in Psalm 103:5, suggesting three ways of understanding: natural, civil, and spiritual.

Matthew Henry

Context: Commentator; quoted on the eagle's renewal in Psalm 103:5, describing the eagle's molting and renewal as a picture of spiritual recovery.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

Context: His division of Psalm 107 is outlined: travelers, prisoners, sick, mariners, and closing verses on judgment and mercy.

1954 drought and prayer meeting

Context: Weaver recounts a personal story from his boyhood when farmers prayed for rain and God sent rain on their property but not on an atheist neighbor's land.

Important Quotes

Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

Significance: Illustrates how people remember what is important to them but forget God.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

Significance: The repeated refrain of Psalm 107, emphasizing the duty of praise.

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

Significance: Connects observation of God's works with understanding His lovingkindness.

That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the Lord.

Significance: The ultimate purpose of God's blessings: obedience to His commands.

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Significance: Shows that God's goodness is meant to produce repentance, not presumption.

Discussion Questions

Why is it so easy to forget God's daily blessings, and what practical steps can we take to remember them?

Context: Based on Jeremiah 2:32 and the challenge to consider when we last thanked God for basic blessings.

How does the story of the student's 'seven wonders' change your perspective on what you consider a blessing?

Context: The story about touch, taste, sight, hearing, feeling, laughter, and love as wonders.

In what ways have you experienced God renewing your strength like the eagle, as described in Psalm 103:5 and Isaiah 40:31?

Context: Discussion of the eagle's renewal and God's enabling grace.

Psalm 107 repeatedly says, 'Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness.' How can we praise God on behalf of those who are unthankful?

Context: Weaver's personal practice of thanking God for those who refuse to thank Him.

According to Psalm 105:45, God blessed Israel so they would keep His laws. How does this purpose apply to the blessings in your own life?

Context: The central argument that blessings are for obedience.

Romans 2:4 says God's goodness leads to repentance. Can you share a time when a blessing led you to repent or change?

Context: The link between blessings and repentance.

What does it mean to 'despise' God's goodness, and how can we guard against that attitude?

Context: Numbers 14:31 and the warning against despising God's blessings through disobedience.

How does understanding that we deserve none of God's mercies (Genesis 32:10) affect your gratitude and daily walk?

Context: Jacob's statement of unworthiness and the call to humility.

Applications

Cultivate a habit of intentional thanksgiving.

Summary: Regularly stop to consider and thank God for specific blessings, including basic ones like sleep, food, and health.

Evidence: Weaver asks, 'When is the last time that you have stopped and even considered, as well as thanked God, for all the blessings that He's given unto you?'

Praise God on behalf of the unthankful.

Summary: When others fail to acknowledge God's blessings, we can thank Him for them, as Weaver did for the rain.

Evidence: Weaver says, 'Lord, I just want to thank You for them. I am thankful, and I want to thank You for those who refuse to thank You.'

Let blessings lead to repentance and obedience.

Summary: Recognize that God's goodness is meant to turn us from sin and motivate us to keep His commandments.

Evidence: Romans 2:4 and Psalm 105:45 are cited to show blessings should produce repentance and obedience.

Observe God's works to understand His lovingkindness.

Summary: Wisely consider God's deliverances and blessings in your life to grow in comprehension of His love.

Evidence: Psalm 107:43: 'Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.'

Avoid presumption and ingratitude.

Summary: Do not take God's blessings for granted or assume they are owed; instead, maintain a humble, thankful heart.

Evidence: Weaver warns against presuming upon God's grace and thinking He owes us blessings.

Remember that all blessings are undeserved.

Summary: Acknowledge that we are not worthy of the least of God's mercies, which fosters humility and gratitude.

Evidence: Genesis 32:10: 'I am not worthy of the least of Thy mercies.'

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T15:35:03Z

deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T05:12:01Z

Clean Transcript

Why Has God Blessed You?

Clean readable transcript. This view follows the Commentary.net cleaned segment text while preserving timestamps for audio follow-along.

In our Bibles, to Psalm 105. Psalm 105. And we're going to read the first seven verses. Psalm 105. And notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 1. Psalm 105: "O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk ye of all His wondrous works, glory ye in His holy name, let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in His strength, seek His face evermore. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth. O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye children of Jacob His chosen. He is the Lord our God, His judgments are in all the earth." The title of the message today is a question: Why has God blessed you? I could ask a very facetious question today and ask, have you been blessed by the Lord God?
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And undoubtedly the answer would be a resounding yes. It is impossible to recount all of God's blessings. It is God who's given us life and health and love and family, silver, gold, money, a host of other blessings as well. And the truth is that we cannot number His blessings because they're so multitudinous. In fact, one of my favorite passages, which I quote regularly, is Lamentations 3:22-23, where the Bible says, "It is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not.
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They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness." It is absolutely impossible to number the blessings that we just had yesterday. It's impossible to number the blessings that we had this morning. How much more would it be impossible then to try to number the blessings of a lifetime?
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Now understand that there are many incidents and episodes that stand out in your mind, and you can see how God has preserved you so many times, and you can say, yes, I recount those and I recall those. But there are a multitude of others that you cannot recount and do not recall, and you cannot enumerate them because there are so many. The Bible says in the book of Job, chapter 5 and verse 9, talking about God, "Which doeth great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number." So God does marvelous things without number. Then in Job 9, in verse 10, He says, "Which doeth great things past finding out, yea, and wonders without number." So God performs wonders without number, and great things that are past finding out. So some of those marvelous wonders and some of those great things relate to God's providence.
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So I want you to hold Psalm 105; we are coming back there. But I want you to look in Acts chapter 14 at verse 17, because included in these wonderful works of God happens to be His marvelous providence. So Acts chapter 14 and verse 17, the Word of God says this: "Nevertheless, He (that is God) left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." So when you stop and think of all the providential things that God brings to pass in our lives, they are actually a witness and a testimony to Him. He gives us rain. Just yesterday we were praying for rain, and boy, did the Lord send a very good one last night. But notice, He said it's not just rain but fruitful seasons. And then He fills our heart with food and with gladness.
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But let me point something else out. When we talk about God's providence, we also have to point out the fact that God does not forget us. So I want you to go back in your Bibles to Psalm 40 and look, if you would please, at verse 5. Psalm 40 and verse 5. Here's a very interesting and enlightening verse. Look in Psalm 40, verse 5. And David says, "Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done." So again, he talks about the wonderful works of God. But note the rest of the verse: "And thy thoughts which are to us-ward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee.
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If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." So has it ever dawned upon you that God thinks about you individually? What He says, "and thy thoughts which are to us-ward." God thinks about us. They cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee, and if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. So it is an amazing thing that the sovereign God of heaven and earth condescends to think of His people, and to think of His creatures, and to think of sinners.
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Now, He may not forget us, but the truth of the matter is, in our sin, in our disobedience, in our rebellion, oftentimes we forget about Him. We assume, presume upon His mercy and grace. We assume that God is going to continue to bless us even regardless of our conduct, and even regardless of whether or not we thank Him. And we presume upon His grace and mercy almost to the point that we think that oftentimes He owes us these things.
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When in reality He does not owe us anything. And the truth of the matter is, many times when God blesses us, we fail to acknowledge and thank Him for all of those blessings. Let me show you another passage. Remember, if you would, Psalm 40 and verse 5 where He says, "And thy thoughts which are to us-ward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee." David said, "If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered." So God oftentimes thinks of us. But if you look in your Bibles to the book of Jeremiah, chapter 2 and verse 32. Jeremiah 2 and verse 32. Note, if you would, what God asks. Here's a very good question. God asked, "Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number." Wow. I believe there's a very clear implication in verse 32 of Jeremiah chapter 2, and that implication is that we think about and we remember things that are important to us.
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He asked the question, "Can a maid forget her ornaments?" There's not a woman in the world that would forget her jewelry. There's not a maiden in the world, a bride, who's going to forget her bridal attire. The reason a woman's not going to forget her jewelry: it's important to her. The reason a bride is not going to forget her bridal gown: it's important to her. And the reason a man's not going to forget his work: it's important to him.
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We think about and we remember those things that are important to us. But God says, "My people have forgotten Me days without number." Unhappily, the truth of the matter is, remembering God and thinking about Him and all of His blessings and all of His grace and mercy to us is really low on our list of priorities. And that's why He said, "My people have forgotten Me days without number." We forget His works. We forget His marvels. We forget His blessings.
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And we fail to acknowledge Him in every area of our life. So let me ask you a question. When is the last time that you have stopped and even considered, as well as thanked God, for all the blessings that He's given unto you? And you have to remember this: the blessings of sleep and rest are something that you and I enjoy on a regular basis. How about the food that He provides? And not just the food, how about the ability to eat that food and enjoy that food? This past week, Alice and I went out to a restaurant, and I noticed a man across from me who was at a table in a wheelchair, and I watched his wife as she would put the spoon in the food and lift it up, and he would eat from the spoon. And I could not help but just say, "Lord, thank You for letting me be able to feed myself and to enjoy the food that I'm eating." I don't even know that he knew that he was eating.
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But you have to understand that this is the blessing of God. And have you ever really thought about your life and your health? And it's God who sustains us and nourishes us. Have you ever stopped and thought about that it is God who enables you to do what you can do? The older I get, the more I appreciate the fact that God allows me to do a lot of things that a lot of people do not get to do at my age.
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And I'm at least 21 now, Brother Francis, so I mean, you know. So you have to stop and think. Here are a multitude of blessings, and the fact is many of the people that Alice and I went to school with are in nursing homes, in wheelchairs, many of them are dead. And when you stop and think, we breathe God's air, we walk on His earth, He gives us the ability to work and to enjoy all the beauties of His creation. Many times I'm just absolutely astounded at what I see when I go out in the forest. I don't know about you, but I have often thought about just thanking God for the oceans.
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for the mountains, for the swamps, for the trees. I have a picture on my cell phone that I took in the woods, I guess, last year. You know, these vine wreaths that everybody likes to hang on their doors. I've got a picture of one that formed naturally in the woods. I thought, my goodness, look at that. And it's just hanging there from one of the trees. And the grapevine is just growing round and round and round, and it is just a wreath hanging there.
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And you stop and think about here God has allowed us to see these things and enjoy these things. I came across an article some time ago, and this article was actually posted on October 20, 2008. And the title of it is, "The True Seven Wonders of the World." And let me just read this to you. It says, "Junior high school students in Chicago were studying the seven wonders of the world. At the end of the lesson, the students were asked to list what they considered to be the seven wonders of the world.
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Though there was some disagreement, the following received the most votes: Egypt's Great Pyramids, the Taj Mahal in India, the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Panama Canal, the Empire State Building, St. Peter's Basilica, and China's Great Wall. While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student, a quiet girl, had not yet turned in her paper. She asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The quiet girl replied, 'Yes, a little.'
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'I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many.' The teacher said, 'Well, tell us what you have and maybe we can help.' The girl hesitated, then read, 'I think the seven wonders of the world are to touch, to taste, to see, to hear.' And then she hesitated a little and added, 'to feel, to laugh, and to love.' The article said the room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. You know, most of us have never thought about the ability to touch or to feel. Those of us who are half deaf have thought about the ability to hear. Those who are nearly blind think about the ability to see, but even tasting. I mean, laughing, loving. I mean, when you stop and think of all the blessings that you and I experience, we take for granted and we never even think of them. And yet, of course, they're here; God has given them. So the question would be, when is the last time that you have thanked God for those things?
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You know, and as bad as things are at times, we can still thank God they're not worse. It could be an awful lot worse. Now I haven't forgotten Psalm 105. I'm going to come back to that, but I want to show you a bunch of passages to try to set you up for what I want to share with you from Psalm 105. So I want you to turn to Psalm 103, and let's look at the first five verses. Psalm 103. Remember, we're coming back to Psalm 105, but look if you would at Psalm 103, and let's read the first five verses. Look what David says.
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"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits." Don't forget these benefits. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies, who satisfieth thy mouth with good things so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles."
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Now, look at verse 1. "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me." In other words, it's not just a half-hearted blessing the Lord and praising Him. It's with everything within Him. "Bless His holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all thy benefits." Now look at verse 3. "Who forgiveth all thine iniquities."
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Now each one of us is a sinner. Each one of us has sinned, and each one of us has done things that we wish we had never done, and we've done things that we wish we could forget. But they are there. And when you stop and think that God knew about each and every sin, and yet He forgives all thine iniquities—not nearly every one of them, not almost everyone, but He forgives all of thine iniquities. And the Bible says He puts them behind His back, He buries them in the depth of the sea, He takes them as far as the east is from the west. So David can say, "Bless the Lord,
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O my soul, and all that is within me." Why? Because He forgiveth all thine iniquities. And he says, "Who healeth all thy diseases." And stop and think about this. Every one of us has been sick and gotten well. It doesn't matter if you're talking about the flu, or cancer, or polio, or whatever. And someone says, "Well, some of my loved ones got sick and died." Well, if they were Christians, they're not sick anymore. He still healed all of those diseases. That is a fact. So he says we can bless the Lord there. Then he says in verse 4, "Who redeemeth our life from destruction." Stop and think how many times God has preserved us. How many times God has saved us. You and I could probably talk about car wrecks, fires, tornadoes, hurricanes, whatever.
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And we can say, "Wow, God just miraculously took care of us in that occasion." But think of all the times that God saved our lives that we weren't even aware of the fact that we were in danger. And then he said, "Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies." All of that is upon us. And then he says in verse 5, "Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things." You're able to eat and enjoy so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles.
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Now, I want to point out something that most of us have never really thought about. He says in verse 5 that God not only satisfies our mouth with good things, but He renews our youth like the eagle. I want to give you two quotes. One of them is by Joseph Caryl. And Joseph Caryl preached years and years just out of the book of Job. But he wrote this concerning verse 5. He says, "The renovation of his youth may be understood in three ways." Talking about David's.
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First, as to the natural state or bodily strength. Second, as to his civil state or worldly successes, as to his honor and kingly renown.
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Thirdly, as to his spiritual state, or the heightening of his gifts, graces, and comforts. It is probable David had found a declension in all of these, and at last through the goodness of God and His blessing upon him, the renewing of them all from that oldness to a youthfulness again was like that of eagles. Now Matthew Henry goes a little bit farther, and he says this: "The eagle is long-lived, and as naturalists say, when she is nearly a hundred years old, casts all her feathers (indeed, she changes them in great measure every year at molting time), and fresh ones come, so that she becomes young again. When God, by His graces and comforts of the Spirit, recovers His people from their decays, and fills them with new life and joy, which is to them an earnest of eternal life and joy, then they may be said to return to the days of their youth." So the eagle molts and gets new feathers, and now begins to look young again. There was another article that I read some time ago about the eagle.
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The article went on to say that as an eagle aged, the beak on that eagle continued to grow and continued to curl, so that often the eagle now is unable to really eat. And so what the eagle would do, would get on a rock somewhere and take his beak and just keep rubbing it back and forth against that like you are sharpening a knife until he actually breaks part of that beak off, and then it begins to grow like it should, and he is able to eat again. Thus he retains the youthfulness or the ability to eat like he did in his youth. Well, God says we are going to be renewed like the eagle.
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Let me show you two passages. The first one is Psalm 92. The second one is Isaiah 40. So look in Psalm 92, and notice if you would please there, verses 13 through 15. Psalm 92, notice verse 13. The Bible says, "They that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing, to show that the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." Note, "They shall still bring forth fruit in old age."
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In other words, we retain the vigor, we retain the youthfulness. "They shall be fat and flourishing." Then if you would turn over to Isaiah 40, because now you're going to see again a comparison to the eagle. Notice if you go to Isaiah 40. Notice if you would please verses 29 through 31. Isaiah 40, verse 29. The Bible talks about the grace and the mercy and the goodness of God in this passage. Isaiah 40, verse 29: "He (that is God) giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might He increaseth strength. The youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall." Watch: "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." Note, if you would please, here is God's enabling power, enabling grace, strengthening grace, persevering grace. He enables us by renewing our strength. And it's compared to mounting up with wings as eagles.
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And he said, "We shall run and not be weary, and we shall walk and not faint." In other words, God is saying this is what it means to have the youth of an eagle, where God just keeps us going. Isn't that amazing? Stop and think about this. I've told several people, Alice and I probably outdo a lot of folks in their 30s and 40s. And but it's only God's grace and God's strength and God's mercy that keeps us going. That's exactly what He says right there. It's like the eagles.
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Now, let me show you this. I want you to turn now to Psalm 107. I'm going to go back to Psalm 105, but I want you to see Psalm 107 because I want you to see another passage that deals with God's goodness, God's blessings, but also this passage now reveals to us our duty, our obligation, and our responsibility that we have in reference to all of God's blessings. So I want to begin by reading the first three verses. Look at Psalm 107, beginning with verse 1.
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The psalmist says, "Oh, give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands from the east and from the west and from the north and from the south."
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Now, this psalm, of course, relates to the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. And so the very first verse says we are to give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, for His mercy endureth forever. Then verse 2 says, "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." So if we have been redeemed from the hand of the enemy, we have an obligation and we have a duty to say so. Years ago, when Alice and I were first converted, in this one church we would go to occasionally, the pastor would stand up and say, "We need to have a say-so meeting." And he would quote this verse. In other words, what he was asking was this: if God has blessed you, if God has done something for you this week, say so. And you would be given a few minutes to stand up and give a testimony to the grace and the mercy of God. "Let the redeemed of the Lord say so." Now Psalm 107 is a psalm of praise. I want to tell you how Spurgeon, Charles
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Haddon Spurgeon, divided this psalm. I'm not going to expound this psalm, but I'm going to give you these divisions and then I'm going to take you back and show them to you and show you a proper response based on each of these divisions. So here's the paragraph from Spurgeon. Here's what he said: "The psalmist commences by dedicating his poem to the redeemed who have been gathered from captivity, verses 1-3. He then likens their history to that of travelers lost in the desert, verses 4-9.
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To that of prisoners in iron bondage, 10-16. To that of sick men, 17-22, and to that of mariners tossed with tempest, 23-32. In the closing verses, the judgment of God on the rebellious and the mercies of God to His own afflicted people are made the burden of this song, verses 33-42. And then the psalm closes with a sort of summing up in verse 43, which declares that those who study the works and ways of the Lord shall be sure to see and to praise His goodness." Now, like I said, it is not my intent to expound this psalm.
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But I do want to show you the proper response that is given to us from these divisions that Spurgeon has outlined for us. He talks about travelers lost in the desert. You remember how God led Israel through the desert. So, look in verse 4. The Bible says, "They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way. They found no city to dwell in." Naturally, not out in the desert. "Hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in them. Then they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way"—watch—"that they might go to a city of habitation." So here are travelers lost. They are found. They are led to the right way. They're given to a city of habitation. What should be the response? Look at verses 8 and 9.
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"Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. For He (God) satisfieth the longing soul and filleth the hungry soul with goodness." So he says, if you have been delivered in this particular way, you should praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works.
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Now, look at the second one. Here we have the second one, that of prisoners, that of individuals in bondage. So, look if you would please beginning there in verse 10. He says, "Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron, because they rebelled against the words of God and contemned the counsel of the Most High." In other words, they were condemned, but they were condemned rightly. "Therefore He brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help." That is Israel in Egypt. "Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in
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sunder." So now they've been powerfully delivered. What should be the response? "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. For He (God) hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars in sunder." So in each of these instances, we're required to praise God. Thirdly, there are those who've been delivered from sickness. Skip down to verse 17. "Fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of meat." In other words, you get so sick you can't eat. "And they draw near unto the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He saved them out of their distresses. He sent His word and healed them and delivered them from their destructions." Well, what should be your response when God sovereignly, powerfully, miraculously, and marvelously healed you? Look in verses 21 and 22. "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing." Fourthly, here's the division of sailors and mariners
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in a great storm. Notice, if you would please, beginning there with verse 23. "They that go down to the sea in ships, they that do business in great waters. These see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. For He (God) commandeth and raiseth up the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths; their soul is melted because of trouble. There in the midst of this storm, they reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man, or near their wits' end, and it looks like they're going to die. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves are ever still. Then are they glad because they be quiet.
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So He bringeth them unto their desired haven." So here is God marvelously, miraculously rescued these people from a storm and brought them to their desired haven. What should be the response? Verse 31. "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people and praise Him in the assembly of the elders." Isn't this amazing? When you look at this psalm, over and over the Scripture is saying, "Oh, that we would praise Him for His goodness."
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Now let me ask you a question. I know that you've praised God in times past for His goodness to you, but I don't know if you've noticed what the Scripture says or not, but it says very carefully and very clearly, "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men." Have you ever stopped to think, "Well, Lord, I will praise You for this, but there are multitudes who will not. And so, Lord, I just want to say thank You for them. I can't make them thankful, but I can acknowledge Your blessings on their behalf, and that is what I want to do."
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Yesterday, Alice and I and Andrew were praying for rain. We needed rain so desperately. And the Lord sent us a wonderful rain last night. And we were all rejoicing, and it hit me: there are a lot of people probably would not be thankful for that rain. And so I said, "Lord, I just want to thank You for them. I am thankful, and I want to thank You for those who refuse to thank You and will not even acknowledge the fact this was Your blessing."
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Well, I will tell you this, I saw this with my own eyes, I saw it with my own eyes. When I was a boy, there was a tremendous drought, I think it was 1954, and all the farmers got together to have a prayer meeting to pray and ask the Lord to send rain. One man that I knew was pretty much an atheist. When I say an atheist, he was basically a drunk.
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And but he was a neighbor. He's a farmer. And my father went and invited him to the prayer meeting, just to be neighborly. And this man laughed at my father, and he said, "What good will that do?" Those men prayed, and that afternoon the Lord sent the rain, and I stood there and watched that rain fall right on our property, right up to his property line, and it did not cross onto his property. So, I'm just simply saying, yes, there are reasons to praise God very obviously.
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Now, I want to show you the last verse in this psalm. Look in Psalm 107 here. Look at it, very last verse. He says, verse 43, "Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord." Wait a minute. Now he's been talking about all of God's marvelous blessings and all of His deliverances and everything that He's done for us. Now He says, if you're wise, you're going to observe these things, and if you're going to observe these things and thank God and praise Him appropriately, you are going to understand the lovingkindness of the Lord. Isn't that amazing? So if you don't thank God and if you don't contemplate these blessings, you're never ever going to comprehend the lovingkindness of the Lord. Now, what I want you to do now is go back to Psalm 105, because everything that I've showed you so far is to really lay a foundation for what I want to give you in Psalm 105. You remember I asked you the question: Why has God blessed you?
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Okay, let's read the first seven verses again. Psalm 105, verse 1. "Oh give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him. Talk ye of all His wondrous works. Glory ye in His holy name. Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in His strength, seek His face forevermore. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders, the judgments of His mouth. Oh, ye seed of Abraham, His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the earth." So when you look at these first seven verses, we're called upon to give thanks unto His name. We're commanded to make His deeds known among the people. We're to sing psalms unto Him. We're to talk of His wondrous works. We're to glory in His name. We're to rejoice in Him. We're to seek His face, and we're to remember all of His marvelous works. Now, let me tell you about Psalm 105. Psalm 105 recounts the miracles, the wonders, the marvels that God did in Egypt in delivering Israel out of the house of bondage. Now before I share this with you, I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 10, because someone is going
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to ask, "What has the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt got to do with me?" Well, I just want to show you. In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, the Apostle Paul takes what happened in Egypt and what happened to the children of Israel and he applies it to a New Testament church, to the church at Corinth. And he makes some astounding statements. So look in verse 1, he says, "Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea." So we are talking about the deliverance from Egypt, we are talking about the Red Sea.
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"And did all eat the same spiritual meat," that is the heavenly manna that God sent, "and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness."
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Now look what he says. "Now these things that happened to them, these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them, as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.' Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day twenty and three thousand," that is Numbers 25. "Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of the serpents," that is in the book of Numbers. "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer," that is also in the book of Numbers. Now He says, "All these things happened to them for examples, and they are written for our admonition,
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upon whom the ends of the world are come." So he says everything that happened to Israel in the Old Testament has an application to us. So I want you to go back to Psalm 105, and I want to just show you some of the things that God did in Egypt. I want us to begin reading with verse 26. Anytime you see the word "He," it refers to God in this psalm. Let's begin with verse 26: "He (that is God) sent Moses, His servant, and Aaron whom He had chosen.
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They showed His signs among them and wonders in the land of Ham. He (that is God) sent darkness and made it dark, and they rebelled not against His word. He turned their waters into blood and slew their fish. Their land brought forth frogs in abundance in the chambers of their kings. He spake, and there came diverse sorts of flies and lice in all their coasts.
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So you're getting the idea. He's talking about the ten plagues here. Verse 32: "He gave them hail for rain and flaming fire in their land. He smote their vines also and their fig trees and brake the trees of their coasts. He spake, and the locusts came and caterpillars, and that without number, and did eat up all the herbs in their land, and devoured the fruit of their ground. He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. He brought them forth also with silver and gold.
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There was not one feeble person among their tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed, for the fear of them fell upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night. The people asked, and He brought quails and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in dry places like a river. For He remembered His holy promise and Abraham His servant. And He brought forth His people with joy and His chosen with gladness, and He gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labor of the people." Now, I want you to look at me just a moment. I want to ask you some questions. Here is the pressing question: Why did God deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt? Why did God work all of these miracles, and all of these wonders, and all of these marvels for the children of Israel? Why did He lead them through the wilderness with a pillar of cloud by day, and a fire by night?
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Why did He provide for them the manna from heaven? Why did He smite the rock and the water gushed out? Why did He supply all of their needs? In fact, the Bible says their foot did not swell, their clothes did not rot. He took care of them. He preserved them. He brought them and gave them the land of the heathen, land that they did not work for, crops that they did not plant, fig trees that they did not—He gave it all to them. So here's my question.
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Why did God do that? Now let me rephrase and let me ask this question another way. I want to bring it up to par. Okay. Here it is. Why did God save you? Why did God deliver you? Why has God given you life and health? Why has God allowed you to hear His Word? Why has God given you peace and possessions? Why has God satisfied your mouth with every good thing? Why has God given you a home? Why has God blessed you in innumerable ways? Here's the answer. The answer is the same for the second question as it is for the first question. Why did God do what He did for Israel? Why did God do what He's done for you?
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Look in your Bible, Psalm 105, verse 45. Here's the answer: "That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise ye the Lord." In other words, God blessed us so that we would be obedient unto Him. Verse 44: "He gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labor of the people, that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise ye the Lord." Now, let me show you something. I want you to turn in your Bible to Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2, and I want you to look at verse 4. Do you realize that God's goodness and God's blessings lead you to repentance, and repentance leads you to obedience? Look in Romans 2, in verse 4. The Bible asks, "Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Ah. Two things here. Number one, it's the goodness of God that leads you to repentance. Then he says, "Or despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering?" Do you realize if you and I do not repent, if we are not obedient, in actuality
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we're despising all of God's goodness? When we're despising His goodness, we're despising Him. Let me show you. Look in your Bibles, if you would please, to Numbers chapter 14. Here's an excellent example, excellent application. Look at Numbers chapter 14. Let me say this again as you turn to Numbers chapter 14: Where there is no repentance, there is no obedience, and where there is no repentance and no obedience, there is nothing less than a despising of God's goodness and hence a despising of God. Numbers chapter 14, look in verse 31. You remember how the people said that God brought them out in that wilderness to kill them and to make their babies a prey. Look what God says. Numbers 14, verse 31: "But your little ones, which you said should be a prey, them
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will I bring in, and they shall know the land which you have"—what?—"despised." So when they refused to obey God, they were despising God's promise. They were despising God's gift. They were despising God's blessing. God had given them the land. He said, "Go up and possess it." And they refused. And God says, "That is a despising of My blessing." So when you and I do not take God's blessings and use them to improve our repentance and our obedience, we're in essence despising that which God has done for us.
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Now, I think our Lord made this exceedingly clear in John 14, in verse 15, when He made this simple statement. When He said, "If you love Me," what? "Keep My commandments." "If you love Me, keep My commandments." So if we love our Lord and we love and appreciate all that He's done for us, it leads us to repentance. It leads us to obedience. Now listen to this one. How about let me ask you this question: Out of all the blessings that God has given you—we can say out of all the blessings from the beginning of the time that you were born until now—out of all the blessings that God has bestowed upon you, how many of them have you deserved? Not one. You know what Jacob said in Genesis 32, in verse 10? He said, "I am not worthy of the least of Thy mercies." And when you think of how rebellious we have been, how depraved we are, how wicked and disobedient, and yet God has still showered us, even when we were unsaved, showered us with blessings.
#61 | 46:45 to 48:18 | cleaned
And when God blesses us, we cannot be lifted up with pride and arrogance because we don't deserve the least of His mercies, which should lead us to be more grateful, more thankful, and more appreciative. Now I want to take you back to 107—you don't have to turn there—but the last verse, because in that verse he said, if you are wise and you will consider these things, that is how God delivers and how God blesses, then you're going to understand the lovingkindness of God. Do you realize without a proper consideration of the blessings of God in our lives, we will never really comprehend the lovingkindness of God? We don't really realize how gracious, how kind, how loving God has really been to us.
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Just the fact that He's allowed us to live should be a tremendous blessing. And it should make us more grateful, more thankful, and more appreciative of everything that God does for us. If David handed me a thousand dollar bill today, and I just took it and walked off, I bet he would think—of course, if he had a $1,000 bill, Janice would already have had it.
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I mean, I understand that. They don't even make them anymore, I don't think. But the point I'm trying to make is this: If he handed me a $1,000 bill and I took it and turned around and walked off and said nothing, not even a thank you, not even acknowledging it, I bet he would be thinking, "Huh, I won't do that again." What do you think God's response to our unthankfulness and our ungratefulness really is when we just take His blessings one after the other and never acknowledge Him and never acknowledge that He is the giver of all good things?
#64 | 50:10 to 50:57 | cleaned
We need to learn to be more appreciative and to be more thankful and to be more grateful for every little blessing which God gives us, because we do not deserve the least of His mercies. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, we bow to Thee. We thank You for Your Word, Your truth, Your goodness, Your kindness. And Father, we must confess that we have forgotten Thee days without number.
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So many times we've been unthankful, ungrateful, unappreciative. So many times we've just assumed and presumed upon Your grace and Your mercy. Forgive us for our sins. Help us to praise and acknowledge Thee. And help us, Lord, to understand and comprehend Thy lovingkindness to each of us. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.
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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-05T15:35:03Z

Why Has God Blessed You?

John Weaver | Freedom Ministries

Pastor John Weaver explores the question of why God blesses His people, using Psalm 105 as the central text. He emphasizes that God's blessings are innumerable and often taken for granted, and that the proper response is gratitude, praise, and obedience. The ultimate purpose of God's blessings is that we might observe His statutes and keep His laws, leading to repentance and a deeper understanding of His lovingkindness.

Introduction: The Multitude of God's Blessings

In our Bibles, to Psalm 105. Psalm 105. And we're going to read the first seven verses. Psalm 105. And notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 1. Psalm 105:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 105:1-7

"O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him, talk ye of all His wondrous works, glory ye in His holy name, let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord in His strength, seek His face evermore. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth. O ye seed of Abraham His servant, ye children of Jacob His chosen. He is the Lord our God, His judgments are in all the earth."

The title of the message today is a question: Why has God blessed you? I could ask a very facetious question today and ask, have you been blessed by the Lord God?

Scripture Reading — Lamentations 3:22-23

"It is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions, they fail not. They are new every morning. Great is thy faithfulness."

Scripture Reading — Job 5:9

"Which doeth great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number."

So God does marvelous things without number. Then in Job 9, in verse 10, He says,

Scripture Reading — Job 5:9

"Which doeth great things past finding out, yea, and wonders without number."

So God performs wonders without number, and great things that are past finding out. So some of those marvelous wonders and some of those great things relate to God's providence.

God's Providential Care and Thoughts Toward Us

God's providence is a witness to His goodness (Acts 14:17). Psalm 40:5 reveals that God's thoughts toward us are more than can be numbered, yet we often forget Him (Jeremiah 2:32).

Scripture Reading — Acts 14:17

"Nevertheless, He (that is God) left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness."

Scripture Reading — Psalm 40:5

"Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done."

So again, he talks about the wonderful works of God. But note the rest of the verse:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 40:5

"And thy thoughts which are to us-ward, they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee.

Scripture Reading — Jeremiah 2:32

"Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number."

Wow. I believe there's a very clear implication in verse 32 of Jeremiah chapter 2, and that implication is that we think about and we remember things that are important to us.

The Danger of Forgetting God's Blessings

The True Seven Wonders of the World

A story about a student who listed touch, taste, sight, hearing, feeling, laughter, and love as the seven wonders illustrates how we take everyday blessings for granted.

Blessing the Lord for His Benefits (Psalm 103)

Scripture Reading — Psalm 92:13-15

"They that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and flourishing, to show that the Lord is upright, He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him."

Note,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 92:13-15

"They shall still bring forth fruit in old age."

The Obligation to Praise: Lessons from Psalm 107

Psalm 107 outlines various deliverances (travelers, prisoners, sick, sailors) and the repeated refrain to praise God for His goodness. The redeemed are to 'say so' and give thanks.

Scripture Reading — Psalm 107:23-32

So He bringeth them unto their desired haven." So here is God marvelously, miraculously rescued these people from a storm and brought them to their desired haven. What should be the response? Verse 31. "Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. Let them exalt Him also in the congregation of the people and praise Him in the assembly of the elders."

Isn't this amazing? When you look at this psalm, over and over the Scripture is saying, "Oh, that we would praise Him for His goodness."

Understanding Lovingkindness Through Observation

Psalm 107:43 teaches that the wise who observe God's works will understand His lovingkindness. Weaver shares a personal story of God sending rain on one property but not an atheist neighbor's.

Now, I want to show you the last verse in this psalm. Look in Psalm 107 here. Look at it, very last verse. He says, verse 43,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 107:43

"Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord."

The Purpose of Blessings: Obedience (Psalm 105:45)

Now, I want to show you the last verse in this psalm. Look in Psalm 107 here. Look at it, very last verse. He says, verse 43,

Scripture Reading — Psalm 107:43

"Whoso is wise and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord."

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 10:1-11

"Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea."

So we are talking about the deliverance from Egypt, we are talking about the Red Sea.

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 10:1-11

"And did all eat the same spiritual meat,"

that is the heavenly manna that God sent,

Scripture Reading — 1 Corinthians 10:1-11

"and did all drink the same spiritual drink, for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness."

Look in your Bible, Psalm 105, verse 45. Here's the answer:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 105:26-45

"That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise ye the Lord."

In other words, God blessed us so that we would be obedient unto Him. Verse 44:

Scripture Reading — Psalm 105:26-45

"He gave them the lands of the heathen, and they inherited the labor of the people, that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise ye the Lord."

Blessings Lead to Repentance, Not Despising God

Romans 2:4 says God's goodness leads to repentance. Numbers 14:31 shows that disobedience is despising God's blessings. Jesus said, 'If you love Me, keep My commandments' (John 14:15).

Conclusion: Undeserved Mercy and the Call to Gratitude

We deserve none of God's mercies (Genesis 32:10). Unthankfulness is a serious offense. Weaver urges greater appreciation and thanks for every blessing, closing in prayer.

Why Has God Blessed You?

John Weaver | YouTube

Lecture Metadata	Details
Speaker	John Weaver
Source	YouTube
Media ID	_M-TZadILD8
Subject	New Testament Studies
Course	Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification: Holiness and Obedience
Genre	Sermon
Date	2018-10-10
Dictation Name
Book	Book 135: Romans: Law, Obedience, and Sanctification - Volume 2 — Chapter 27
Source Timed Segments	66

Lecture Guide

Outline

Introduction: The Multitude of God's Blessings: Weaver opens by reading Psalm 105:1-7 and posing the question, 'Why has God blessed you?' He asserts that God's blessings are so numerous they cannot be counted, citing Lamentations 3:22-23 and Job 5:9.
God's Providential Care and Thoughts Toward Us: God's providence is a witness to His goodness (Acts 14:17). Psalm 40:5 reveals that God's thoughts toward us are more than can be numbered, yet we often forget Him (Jeremiah 2:32).
The Danger of Forgetting God's Blessings: We remember what is important to us, but God's people forget Him days without number. Weaver challenges listeners to consider when they last thanked God for basic blessings like sleep, food, and health.
The True Seven Wonders of the World: A story about a student who listed touch, taste, sight, hearing, feeling, laughter, and love as the seven wonders illustrates how we take everyday blessings for granted.
Blessing the Lord for His Benefits (Psalm 103): Psalm 103:1-5 calls us to bless the Lord with all our soul and not forget His benefits: forgiveness, healing, redemption, lovingkindness, and satisfaction. The renewal of youth like the eagle is explored.
The Obligation to Praise: Lessons from Psalm 107: Psalm 107 outlines various deliverances (travelers, prisoners, sick, sailors) and the repeated refrain to praise God for His goodness. The redeemed are to 'say so' and give thanks.
Understanding Lovingkindness Through Observation: Psalm 107:43 teaches that the wise who observe God's works will understand His lovingkindness. Weaver shares a personal story of God sending rain on one property but not an atheist neighbor's.
The Purpose of Blessings: Obedience (Psalm 105:45): Returning to Psalm 105, Weaver recounts God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt and asks why God did it. The answer in verse 45 is 'that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws.' This applies to believers today.
Blessings Lead to Repentance, Not Despising God: Romans 2:4 says God's goodness leads to repentance. Numbers 14:31 shows that disobedience is despising God's blessings. Jesus said, 'If you love Me, keep My commandments' (John 14:15).
Conclusion: Undeserved Mercy and the Call to Gratitude: We deserve none of God's mercies (Genesis 32:10). Unthankfulness is a serious offense. Weaver urges greater appreciation and thanks for every blessing, closing in prayer.

Major Themes

Key Arguments

God's blessings are undeserved and should produce humility and gratitude.

Since we do not deserve the least of God's mercies, we should be more grateful and not lifted up with pride.

Weaver quotes Jacob in Genesis 32:10: 'I am not worthy of the least of Thy mercies,' and emphasizes that all blessings are undeserved.

Forgetting God's blessings is a sign of misplaced priorities.

People remember what is important to them; forgetting God indicates He is not a priority.

Jeremiah 2:32 contrasts a bride not forgetting her attire with God's people forgetting Him days without number.

Praise is a commanded response to deliverance.

Psalm 107 repeatedly commands praise for God's goodness in various deliverances, and the redeemed are to 'say so.'

The refrain 'Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness' appears in verses 8, 15, 21, and 31 of Psalm 107.

The ultimate purpose of God's blessings is obedience.

Psalm 105:45 explicitly states that God blessed Israel so they would keep His laws, and this principle applies to believers.

Psalm 105:45: 'That they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise ye the Lord.'

Unthankfulness is a serious offense against God.

Failing to thank God for His blessings is akin to despising His goodness and can provoke His displeasure.

Weaver uses the analogy of receiving a $1,000 bill without thanks and asks what God thinks of our unthankfulness.

Scripture References

Psalm 105:1-7: Opening reading; calls for thanksgiving, praise, and remembrance of God's works.
Lamentations 3:22-23: Cited to show God's mercies are new every morning and we are not consumed.
Job 5:9: God does great things and unsearchable, marvelous things without number.
Job 9:10: God does great things past finding out, wonders without number.
Acts 14:17: God's providence in giving rain, fruitful seasons, food, and gladness is a witness.
Psalm 40:5: God's wonderful works and thoughts toward us are more than can be numbered.
Jeremiah 2:32: God's people have forgotten Him days without number, unlike a bride who remembers her attire.
Psalm 103:1-5: Bless the Lord and forget not His benefits: forgiveness, healing, redemption, lovingkindness, satisfaction.
Psalm 92:13-15: Those planted in God's house will still bring forth fruit in old age.
Isaiah 40:29-31: Those who wait on the Lord renew their strength and mount up with wings as eagles.
Psalm 107:1-3: Give thanks to the Lord for His mercy endures forever; let the redeemed say so.
Psalm 107:4-9: Travelers lost in the desert cried to God and were delivered; response: praise God for His goodness.
Psalm 107:10-16: Prisoners in bondage cried to God and were delivered; response: praise God for breaking gates of brass.
Psalm 107:17-22: Sick men cried to God and were healed; response: sacrifice thanksgiving and declare His works.
Psalm 107:23-32: Sailors in a storm cried to God and were brought to haven; response: exalt Him in the congregation.
Psalm 107:43: The wise who observe these things will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 10:1-11: Old Testament events happened as examples for us, written for our admonition.
Psalm 105:26-45: Recounts God's plagues, deliverance, and provision for Israel; purpose in verse 45: that they might keep His laws.
Romans 2:4: The goodness of God leads to repentance; despising His goodness is warned against.
Numbers 14:31: Israel's refusal to enter the land was despising God's promise.

Historical References

Joseph Caryl: A preacher who wrote on Job; quoted regarding the renewal of youth like the eagle in Psalm 103:5, suggesting three ways of understanding: natural, civil, and spiritual.
Matthew Henry: Commentator; quoted on the eagle's renewal in Psalm 103:5, describing the eagle's molting and renewal as a picture of spiritual recovery.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon: His division of Psalm 107 is outlined: travelers, prisoners, sick, mariners, and closing verses on judgment and mercy.
1954 drought and prayer meeting: Weaver recounts a personal story from his boyhood when farmers prayed for rain and God sent rain on their property but not on an atheist neighbor's land.

Important Quotes

Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number.

Illustrates how people remember what is important to them but forget God.

Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!

The repeated refrain of Psalm 107, emphasizing the duty of praise.

Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord.

Connects observation of God's works with understanding His lovingkindness.

That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the Lord.

The ultimate purpose of God's blessings: obedience to His commands.

Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

Shows that God's goodness is meant to produce repentance, not presumption.

Discussion Questions

[Question]

Why is it so easy to forget God's daily blessings, and what practical steps can we take to remember them?

[Context]

Based on Jeremiah 2:32 and the challenge to consider when we last thanked God for basic blessings.

[Question]

How does the story of the student's 'seven wonders' change your perspective on what you consider a blessing?

[Context]

The story about touch, taste, sight, hearing, feeling, laughter, and love as wonders.

[Question]

In what ways have you experienced God renewing your strength like the eagle, as described in Psalm 103:5 and Isaiah 40:31?

[Context]

Discussion of the eagle's renewal and God's enabling grace.

[Question]

Psalm 107 repeatedly says, 'Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness.' How can we praise God on behalf of those who are unthankful?

[Context]

Weaver's personal practice of thanking God for those who refuse to thank Him.

[Question]

According to Psalm 105:45, God blessed Israel so they would keep His laws. How does this purpose apply to the blessings in your own life?

[Context]

The central argument that blessings are for obedience.

[Question]

Romans 2:4 says God's goodness leads to repentance. Can you share a time when a blessing led you to repent or change?

[Context]

The link between blessings and repentance.

[Question]

What does it mean to 'despise' God's goodness, and how can we guard against that attitude?

[Context]

Numbers 14:31 and the warning against despising God's blessings through disobedience.

[Question]

How does understanding that we deserve none of God's mercies (Genesis 32:10) affect your gratitude and daily walk?

[Context]

Jacob's statement of unworthiness and the call to humility.

Applications

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | weaver_study | 2026-06-06T05:12:01Z