Please stand for the reading of God's Word, which is in Psalm 107. If you have your own Bible and are planning to read from there, encourage you to have it open but also to use the bulletin because we're going to read a portion of this passage together. And here's why. Every once in a while you hear a song and the song grabs you and you can't get rid of it. It's in your mind. It may be a song you've heard from decades ago or it may be a brand new song but you love it. And just love the melody you love the words and you sing the words and you want to share it with others. Well for me this is that type of song. The song is incredibly beautiful and then it shares four stories. Four stories that are then followed by a chorus. And the chorus is the same each time. And in sharing it with you this morning, I want you to say the chorus. And I want you to say it loud. I want you to say it as if it's your favorite song. I want other people to hear it because I think that's what God's called us to do. And I think you'll see that in this song. So follow along and read as so directed in the bulletin. Psalm 107. Oh give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he is redeemed from trouble, and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. Some wandered in desert waste finding no way to a city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, their souls fainted within them. He led them by a straight way till they reached a city to dwell in. For he satisfies the longing soul. And the hungry soul he fills with good things. Some set in darkness and in the shadow of death. Prisoners in affliction and in irons. For they had rebelled against the words of God and spurned the council of the most high. So he bowed their hearts down with hard labor. They fell down with none to help. He brought them out of darkness in the shadow of death and burst their bonds apart. For he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts into the bars of iron. Some were fools through sinful ways and because of their iniquities suffered affliction. They loathed in the kind of food and they drew near to the gates of death. He sent out his word and healed them and delivered them from their destruction and let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and tell of his deeds and songs of joy. Some went down to the sea and ships doing business on the great waters. They saw the deeds of the Lord. His wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven. They went down to the depths. Their courage melted away in their evil plight. They reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wit's end. He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet and he brought them to their desired haven. Let them extoll him in the congregation of the people and praise him in the assembly of the elders. This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Please be seated. Father in heaven we would ask that you would cause us to cry out as the Psalmist has taught that we would cry to you in our distress trusting that you will deliver us and then let us respond by giving you praise and thanksgiving. Spirit do that work in us which only you can do. We pray that you would do it now. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. The Psalmist has a very simple desire in Psalm 107 and that is that God's people would give him thanks. That they would remember who he is and what he does and that they would give him thanks. But he has in mind the forgetfulness of his people. He has in mind the way in which the nation of Israel throughout its history has forgotten. Psalm 107 following 105 and 106 is a sense of trilogy, three Psalms that speak about Israel and their Babylonian captivity. And here in Psalm 107 he is reminding them give thanks for that which only God can do. But he recognizes, especially if you look at Psalm 106, the temptation to forget. We forget so often. As a church we desire that our people would long to worship God together. But we will worship together not the way God intended it unless our hearts are full of gratitude. And our hearts will only be full of gratitude if we remember. Remember that which only God can do and that which only God has done. I want to ask you, even as you come in this morning, have you entered with a grateful heart? Have you come overwhelmed by the storms of life? Probably. But have you come into a place where you know your eyes are to be lifted up? And gratitude to all that God has done. All that only God can do. I pray he takes you there. I pray he takes me there this morning, this hour, now, why? Because gratitude is an essential element of a disciple of Christ's life. If you have your Bible term with me to the book of Luke chapter 17, if you don't just simply listen to this very familiar story. In Luke 17, Jesus comes upon 10 who have the awful disease of leprosy. In verse 11, this is how the story unfolds. On the way to Jerusalem, Jesus was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by 10 lepers who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices saying, Jesus, master, have mercy on us. Now let's talk about this for a minute. They stood at a distance because lepers had to. Their disease was considered very contagious. So they, if they came into the public, were to shout out, unclean, unclean. And those who would hear the lepers coming would remove themselves from the area. Jesus hears the 10 lepers. And they raised their voices. That's important to remember. They raised their voices because they want to be healed. And they cry out to the only one who can heal them. There is no physician in town. There's no organic doctor who can suddenly do something. There's no mad scientists who can make this happen. Jesus and Jesus alone. And so they cry out. Jesus, master, have mercy on us. In verse 14, Jesus says, solve them and said to them, go and show yourselves to the priest. And as they went, they were cleansed. Do you see that? Sometimes Jesus said it and it was done. But in this case, he said, go. And as they began to walk towards the priest, wherever the priest was, their leprosy began to drop. The disease that had invaded their body, that which had corrupted their body, was now gone, verse 15, then one of them just stopped there for a minute. Then one, just one. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. His voice not shouting this time, have mercy on me, but praising God for what he had done, what did he done? He had shown mercy on him, and he's going back to praise him, but he's going back alone. Nine others, where were they? Where were they going? And he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, we're not ten cleansed. Where are the nine? Was no one found to return to give praise to God, except this foreigner? And he said to him, rise and go your way. Your faith has made you well. Jesus teaches through this story, this miraculous healing, that people are ungrateful. They're ungrateful even when they recognize that something so miraculous and significant has happened in their life, that no one else could do. The nine were healed just as the one, but he didn't return. They just continued to go. But this one said, I must stop. Look, what's happened to me? I must go to the one who did this, and he moves, and as he gets there, he shouts thanksgiving, then he falls on his face. Is that your posture regularly at worship? Do you come in here with so much thanksgiving that you just want to lift your voice so loud and fall on your face to worship God? That's the posture we are to have when we realize that there was nothing else. No one else, only God could save the lepers and only God can save us. This is the point that the Psalmist so much wants to make. And so he uses four stories, four stories of four types of people who were in deep trouble. The first is a drifter. You see it in verse four. Some wandered in desert waste, finding no way to a city to dwell in. Hungry and thirsty, they're so fainted within them. The second is a prisoner who's depressed in verse 10. Some said in darkness and in this shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons. For they had rebelled against the words of God. The third one is verse 17. We'll call this the dying, the sick. It says some were fooled through their sinful ways. And because of their iniquities, they suffered affliction. They loathed any kind of food and they drew near the gates of death. So do you see it? You have the drifter who's wondering aimlessly. You have the depressed in the sense of prison because of their sin. And then you have this one who's so sick, they're dying. They're the gates of death, the door of death. Not because of normal illness, but specifically related to their sin. And then you have the fourth story, which is my favorite, the sailors on the sea, drowning which picks up in verse 23. Well, what do these have in common? This morning very quickly, I want to show you the two root sins that I believe are there, followed by what it is we must know about God in response to that. This all comes in the context of a charge to our pastor, Don Abmeyer, the one who's going to serve faithfully our youth. So what is the root sin? Listen, the first is this. People, those created by God, number one, rebel. They rebel against God and against God's word. I'm going to show you that through these verses. The second though is that there's a reliance problem. The reliance is on self. So it's rebellion and it's reliance. Rebellion against God's word, reliance on self to save self. Do you see it? Let's look quickly. The first story about the drifter speaks of a man who's wondering aimlessly in a wilderness. Don, as you've come to serve this church, I want you to know that though Kent talked about you looking beautiful, it's important that you do. We're amongst beautiful people. Look at them. They dress well. They clean up well. But as I've said often before, they're rotten. They are. Just like you. Just like me. We just have more ways of cleaning ourselves up to look pretty. But deep down, just like what the word of God says, we've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The first person that the Psalmist talks about is essentially homeless. None of us are homeless, but don't be deceived. There is a wilderness of wealth. That many in this body and in the communities that we serve because we're in America is really about drifting. In fact, we are induced by so many things that we become tangled in our lost, in which direction we're supposed to go. The students you will minister to many of them will simply be aimless, lost, confused. Why? Because they have parents who are the same way. We have so many things to distract us and take us away from where we're supposed to go. And so like the drifter the Psalmist talks about, we wander in this wilderness. And what happens is our footprints over time get blown over with sand in these storms and we don't know where to go. And until we come to a place of saying, only God can lead me. Only God can take me out of this. We will continue to wonder. The second person is described as a prisoner. Well, none of us look like prisoners, but deep down we are. We're imprisoned by the sin that we allow to handcuffs. But there's the gospel that says for those who are in Christ, we are not slaves to that. And so the message they will need to hear from you is that Christ has come to set you free. But it's not until we feel powerless over those iron bars, honest, that we will really understand the goodness of the gospel. Don, the third is described as fools who, through sinful ways, are very sick to the point of death, loathing any kind of food. It's because they've rebelled against God's word. And in rebelling against God's word, their life is on a path of destruction. And the last picture is that of the drowning. But what are they all about? It's very simple. These two sins rebelling against God's word and relying on herself are the very things that take us away from God. And it's the message gone of the gospel that you need to bring. What is the message about God? I want you to hear this. God uses two things in this psalm to show us the way he reaches people. The first one is this. There are consequences for our sin. Do you see it? The drifter. He's gone away. He's lost. He's hungry. He's thirsty. But what does it say about his soul? It's not well. His soul is fainting within him. It's not well. The second thing you see is the prisoner. He's rebelled against the word of God. He's in darkness and in the shadow of death. And the same is true of the third. So what does God do? God allows the consequences of sin to move in. If you have your Bible, simply flip over to Psalm 106. Listen, as I just do a very quick summary of some of the statements of the nation of Israel. Look with me at verse 7. Our fathers when they were in Egypt did not consider your wondrous works. They did not remember. Don't forget that. They did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love but rebelled by the sea at the red sea. Listen to verse 13. But they soon forgot his works. They did not wait for his counsel. But they had a one craving in the wilderness and put God to the test in the desert. Now listen to this. Verse 15. He gave them what they asked but sent a wasting disease among them. God uses the consequences of sin to bring us to our wits in. To see the consequences of our life of sin falling apart, we suddenly say there's got to be something more. There has to be something better. And we cry out. God, have mercy on me. A sinner. This isn't working. There has to be more. But the second thing he does is he doesn't just use the consequences of sin. He uses the storms of life to draw us to himself. And I think that's what the fourth story is all about. This is the story of the sailors. Here they are, verse 23, going out on the sea and ships doing business on the great waters. They saw the deeds of the Lord. His wondrous works and the deep. Now I want you to catch something for a minute. Imagine what the sea looked like to these men. Think about the craft that they're in. It's not this great sea going vessel. But the waters are not polluted like they are today either. So as they're out on this ship, they are able to see deep into the ocean. Things that God has made that other people on the shore have never seen. What happens to them when they see it? They think of God and what he has made. Do you know that God has made things that you and I will never see? We're incapable of even creating an instrument that will go that deep in the ocean without exploding. We know there are things down there. Why did he make them? For his own glory. And here these sailors are watching and seeing the things that God has done. But then they see God's glory in a different way. What is it? He causes. Hear me carefully. He causes. He causes a storm to rise. He commanded verse 25 and raised the stormy wind which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven. They went down to the depths and their courage melted away and their evil plight. It says that they reeled and they staggered like drunken men and were at their wits end. Praise God. Are you at your wits end? Have you ever been? This is what the Psalmist wants them to be thankful for. God took them to their wits end that they finally might cry out. Only God. Only God can save us. There's nothing else we can do but the sin done in our community and in this church is self-reliance. It's rebellion against God's word and then reliance on self. We feel like we can do something about it. And reality is, our condition is too great. We can't. It's only God. Now listen to this. In bringing about that message, these men cry out help because they're at their wits end. What took them there? Their inability. You can hear the captain. Can't you shouting out orders to those on deck? Do this. Bell that way. Raise this. But nothing will work. And finally, when they realize nothing at all will work. At their wits end, they cry out. Only God. Only God can save us. In the New Testament, what does it remind you of? Jesus. A sleep. And a boat. I wonder what the disciples thought as they started to move across the sea. Oh, Jesus is napping. That's wonderful. Look at our Savior. He's napping. They're at work. But then suddenly, the storm comes. He's not sleeping after all. But they don't know that. And as the storm comes, they roll harder. But then they realize that there's too much water coming over the boat. They do everything they can. One of them is shouting out orders. They're doing everything they can. But there's nothing they can do. They know they're going to drown. And finally, someone says, Wake Jesus. And they wake him. And as they wake him, he gets up. And what does he say? He says to the storm that he caused. Be quiet. Be still. And it is. And it is. And they freak out. And they say, Who is this? Who is this that even the wind in the sea obey? The wind in the sea obey, not just in being calm and still, but also in becoming a furious, well, who is this? Done. The person they're asking about is Jesus. And the call that God has put on your life is to teach people who he is. And that he and he alone is the one who can save us. Because of rebellion against God's word, because of this self-reliance, you will come across many people who deeply need you to point them to Christ is the only way. A few years ago, Don told me a story. And the story was about he and two buddies fishing in Colorado. You do need to get to know Don. Don is one of the most grateful people that I know. Truly, you genuinely do give thanks. Every time I hear him pray, he talks about the things he's thankful for. It's beautiful. And it's taught me a lot. But in this story, Don was sailing, or I guess he was fishing on this kind of flat bottom boat. And Don tells the story that he was the smallest man on the boat. So think about that. A man named Kyle Parker and an older man named Floyd were the other two men on the boat. And as they were fishing, a huge storm came up just like they often do in Colorado in the afternoon. And as it came, it was fierce. And so they began to move towards the shore, but it was a treacherous journey. Don often talked about Kyle, who was the one at the motor. And he stayed focused on where he needed to go. Focussed his eyes were forward where they needed to be. But I want to take the illustration a little bit further. Many people in many churches this day are going to leave with the message that I just have to grab hold of the motor and I just need to keep my eyes focused and do what I'm supposed to do. Don, the message that the world needs is not that. The message that the world needs is you can't do it alone. You must have God. Only God can calm the storm. Only God could restore. And brothers and sisters, he does. He doesn't necessarily do it in an instant, though. In reading the Psalm, you might think, if I just pray, I'm in trouble delivering me from my distress, it would be gone. But likely, the storm will last for some time. But what does Jesus promise? He promises to give you himself. This week I had lunch with a man who's in our choir and asked him about his life near the end of our conversation. He said, you know, Mark, it's as if God has a hold of me and I'm a snow globe. And he just did this about six months ago. And everything is just kind of fluttering around. I said, has he stopped shaking it? He said, I don't know. I said, I think a lot of people feel the way you do. Right now, in our times, people are in distress. But every time I talk about this with other Christians, there's nothing. Something good's going to come out of this. Why do they say that? Do they say it because it's a book that they've read or a nice phrase on a coffee mug? They say it because it's true. We know that God has a will, and it's good. It's pleasing, and it's perfect. But it doesn't mean it's without storms. I encourage my friend to remember this. That in order to shake a snow globe, you have to hold it. And so if God truly is shaking your life like this, he hasn't let you go, and he won't. He can't. He is incapable of letting his children go. Isn't that beautiful? God uses storms to bring us to our wits end. That we might cry out, only God, only God can save me. And that is when we can see that all truly is well with our soul. That is true. Praise be to God. Amen.