THOU CROWNEST THE YEAR WITH THY GOODNESS, Ps. 65:11

Transcription

1 THOU CROWNEST THE YEAR WITH THY GOODNESS, Ps. 65:11 At the beginning of the year leaders, - political and religious, - present their New Year messages to their various constituencies. As children of the Heavenly King we turn again to God s infallible Word as our source for this coming year. Psalm sixty-five is one of the most beautiful psalms of David. It was probably written for the harvest time (v.11). It is the first of four psalms (Pss ) that focus on praising the Lord for His blessings in nature and His goodness towards His people. However, we can also apply this psalm to our hope in God for the year that lies ahead, Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. The psalmist begins by leading the people in public worship, v.1 Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Sion. This was an invitation for God to demonstrate His presence among His people, Ps. 48:1 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. In another psalm the writer told his people, 112:1 Praise ye the LORD. Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. In other words, it is the privilege of God s people to enjoy His company it comes from belonging to Him. Spurgeon wrote, If you do not desire to know Him better, then you love Him not, for love always cries, Nearer, Nearer. And it is true When you love someone, you desire to love them more. Consider what God has done for us. He has saved us for His glory and to bring Him glory. He is the Object of our Worship. He takes the place in my heart where once other idols reigned. He dethroned all obstacles to His Name! When we consider Him as He would have us to consider Him, all of self fades away and vanishes Alexander MacLaren explained it like this, Despair of self is the mother of confidence in God. Jesus Christ, when trusted, will do for sin what cannot be done without Him. And David highlights one of the many wonderful blesseds of Scripture, v.4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple. We are indeed a people greatly honoured of the Lord a privilege that is rooted in eternity and is ours forever. He has placed His seal upon us to identify us as His. When He shed His blood on Calvary He paid the price to redeem us, so that we belong to Him completely! When we invited Him to be our Saviour, He forgave us our sins and became our Lord. Because of His marvellous grace, we are welcome before His throne.

2 And when we leave this world we are not going out into an empty state of unknowingness The moment we breathe our final earthly breath our lungs will fill with the unpolluted and fragrant air of Heaven. Paul wrote, Rom. 8:18 I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us James wrote, 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. The very first sight we shall see is the majesty of God. There will be no obstacles and no distractions to hinder our view. We shall share the absolute delight of the Divine presence forever. Yes, in this present life, - as verse five reminds us, - there are the terrible things, but there are also those days of satisfaction and goodness (v.4) and yet even the terrible things God can use to draw us closer to Himself so we can see and understand more of His glory. His salvation towards us continues in the midst of those terrible things. In it all, we know this v.8 thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. 9 Thou visitest the earth, and waterest it: thou greatly enrichest it with the river of God, which is full of water: thou preparest them corn, when thou hast so provided for it. 10 Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly: thou settlest the furrows thereof: thou makest it soft with showers: thou blessest the springing thereof. Don t you see how easy it would be to apply these verses to the harvest season but don t you also see how we can relate them to the opening of another year? F.A. Trotter (Biblical Illustrator) wrote, Every dawn and sunset is a pledge of His unchangeable faithfulness That unchangeable faithfulness comes to the fore as we study together this passage, and in particular, verse eleven Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. Here is HIS PROMISE What does this year hold for us? None of us knows for certain. It could be a year full of good things, - great encouragements and fantastic achievements. Or it could be a year of sadness and heartache. We just do not know. Is it not a great blessing though, that each child of God has the confidence that our God knows! Is it not a great blessing to know that everything for us in this year He has already planned in eternity and we have the confidence that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose (Rom. 8:28)! 2

3 3 And is it not a great blessing that since He is the Shepherd of His sheep He will only lead us along the paths that are ultimately for our good the paths in which He goes before us! His promise is that He crowns our year with goodness Ps. 31:19 Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee. The world has various understandings of goodness, - what might be good to one might not be good to another God does not use the world s dictionary though, He has His own! The world sees a good year as producing pay increases and an extra foreign holiday, or a new car, or a new house. With all the talk about careering over the fiscal cliff, we are not being offered much hope for the economy! And yet we have the confidence of David, Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever (Ps. 23:6). God s goodness is God s promise that He looks after His own. None strays from His attention The hymn says, His eye is on the sparrow, and He watches over me. He promises you that He will crown your year with His goodness. He is not necessarily promising you a trouble-free year, - in fact, He told His disciples, Jn. 16:33 In the world ye shall have tribulation nevertheless, He went on to tell them, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. He is not just a Saviour and Lord, He is the Saviour and Lord. He is the only One Who can make promises and keep them! You know they will be carried out to your good and to His glory! His goodness is a privilege and an honour to enjoy. His goodness is wholly satisfying and it is to the enjoyment of every believer who has Him in the very centre of their life. His goodness does not merely span thirty, forty, fifty, or a hundred years when God measures His goodness He measures it in limitless proportions. His promise, - Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. HIS PRESENCE As we would say nowadays He is a hands-on God. He never leaves His people and that is how He knows exactly what is happening in each of their lives. He never allows you to go beyond His view. He always has you in His sights Nothing happens in your life that He does not see and that He does not have full control over. He sees you when you bow your head and speak to Him in prayer. He sees you when you open His Word and read it and put it into practice.

4 4 He sees you when the smile lights up your face, and He sees you when the tears fall from your eyes. He sees into your heart and He sees its joys and sorrows. He sees how you hold Him as your best Friend, and how you trust Him. And it is with His presence comes His promise and for Him to crown your year with His own unique and special goodness He spends every moment of every day with you. And it is not only the good days He spends with you, He is with you when that problem is looming in front of you and He is close-by when the heartache threatens to pull you apart. There is nothing can separate Him from any of His people. There is nothing so harrowing He cannot help you deal with. There is nothing that hinders His presence. In the wilderness, for example, He continued with His people despite their unfaithfulness, despite the enemies they faced, and despite the inhospitable terrain. He never gave up on them even though they sometimes gave up on Him. There is nothing that kept God away from His people for He had promised, Ex. 33:14 My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. In the New Testament, even when Stephen lay dying Luke, the author of Acts, records, 7:55 [he] looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. Never allow any circumstance to rob you of your confidence in Him Guard your confidence in God Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. His promise and His presence. HIS PROVISION The beautiful words of the hymn writer, Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father, There is no shadow of turning with Thee; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me! David the shepherd boy sang of his Shepherd he confidently declared, Ps. 23:1 I shall not want. 2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. He provides for us in the winter times as well as in the summers. And when the road is frozen and hard, or when it becomes muddy and difficult He doesn t always lead you another direction but He navigates you through the obstacles. Remember Christian in Pilgrim s Progress as he waded through the Slough of Despond If only he had been more watchful, for the God that led him on to the path had also made the provision of the stepping stones to see him safely through.

5 5 Sometimes the paths drop fatness what a beautiful phrase! Everything around you is going your way. The experiences of Christ in your life and how you can see His hand of blessing over you is so wonderful. You are enjoying your life with Him! But there are those other times too and the Hebrew word that is used here is also sometimes translated as a gentle trickle [@[;r' ra`aph {raw-af'}]. For example, Job 37:26 Behold, God is great, and we know him not, neither can the number of his years be searched out. 27 For he maketh small the drops of water: they pour down rain according to the vapour thereof: 28 Which the clouds do drop and distil upon man abundantly. The drops of water may seem small and yet God makes sure even they are sufficient for us. It is the same word used in Ps.65:12 They drop upon the pastures of the wilderness: and the little hills rejoice on every side. Even the ruggedness of the wilderness experiences the gentle drops of God s grace and mercy. Solomon also wrote, Prov. 3:20 By his knowledge the clouds drop down the dew. Through Isaiah, the Lord promised the people, 41:18 I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. His promise, His presence, His provision HIS PEACE Ps. 65:11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. This is God s verse. This verse is all about Him and about what He promises for His people. This is a testimony verse for all who trust Him! You dare not stride out into a new year thinking you have it all worked out, according to your plans. It is dangerous when you fool yourself into thinking you are the master of your own destiny. You re not! It is God Who is in charge! Grab hold of that and I guarantee you a peace you will find nowhere else. The psalmist said, 31:14 I trusted in thee, O LORD: I said, Thou art my God. 15 My times are in thy hand. It does not mean you don t plan, - of course, you should plan, - but you make your plans subject to the will and overall design of God. He knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold, said Job (23:10). I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day, said Paul (II Tim. 1:12). Paul spoke to the Philippians about the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, and how it would keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. He also instructed the Colossians to let the peace of God rule in your hearts (3:15). If you want to know the peace of God you must know peace with God He must rule in your heart. His promise, His presence, His provision, His peace they are not isolated, because they all work together in harmony for

6 HIS PURPOSE This Psalm 65 is a psalm of praise, - it begins and ends with praise on the lips of the psalmist. The Lord is good to him! Yes, there are the iniquities and transgressions David personally had to contend with (v.3) And yes, there were the terrible things (v.5) the noise of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the people that needed to be stilled (v.7). We are in the world and as long as we are in the world its trials will not disappear but God is in Sion (v.1), He is with His people (v.4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple) He continues to be the God of our salvation (v.5), and therefore, v.13 they shout for joy, they also sing. What can you see there that tells us what His purpose is? Why is God so good to us? Why does He save us from our sin and give us new life in Christ? What is His purpose in saving His people? The purpose is not for us to concentrate on the things of this world, or to become caught up in its pursuits, - no matter how commendable. Very simply, our purpose must be His purpose and His purpose is that we should glorify Him and enjoy Him both now in this world, and forever in the next! Believer, you and I are being kept by God on this earth to fulfil His purpose to live out our time here on earth to His glory. That is why He saved us! He saved us for His Purpose, and His Purpose is His glory! That is His ultimate reason for our salvation! CONCLUSION Ps. 65:11 Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness. His promise, His presence, His provision, His peace and His purpose. If you want the best out of 2013, - at the very outset of this new year, - make sure the Best is in charge of your life, and the Best, - the very Best is the Lord Jesus Christ! King of my life, I crown Thee now, Thine shall the glory be! 6