Model of Gratefulness, Part Three

Dec 03 2021 Model of Gratefulness, Part Three

Psalm 103:1-5 says, “Praise the Lord. I tell myself with all my whole heart, I will praise his holy name, praise the Lord. I tell myself and never forget the good things he has done for me.” Don’t forget the good things when you’re down and out. Think of some good things he’s done for you. Look in the past. It’s very interesting in the Bible, the word “remember” is said over and over again. Remember what he’s done. Remember what he did. Remember. Remember, remember. Then it goes on to say, “for he forgives my sins, heals all my diseases. He ransoms me from the pit, surrounds me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the Eagle.”

So let’s look at this benefit. One, we talked about forgiveness. And we talked about healing of diseases. Now, today, we’re going to talk about he who redeems your life from the pit. So what’s this pit? It relates to corruption— physically, of our bodies, from destruction and from going to waste, just in our daily lives.

First of all, he redeems our lives from the pit of death. In Psalm 49:7-9, 13-15, it says, “Yet they cannot redeem themselves from death by paying a ransom to God. Redemption does not come so easily for no one can ever pay enough to live forever and never see the grave.” In the verses previous, the author says that they are one’s who trust in their wealth and boast of their great riches. We’re all going to die! There are two things everyone can count on… death and taxes! This verse is saying that we are all doomed to the pit.

In verse 13-15, it goes on to say, “This is the fate of fools, though they are remembered as being wise. Like sheep, they are led to the grave, where death will be their shepherd. In the morning, the godly will rule over them. Their bodies will rot in the grave, far from their grand estates. But as for me, God will redeem my life. He will snatch me from the power of the grave.”

In Psalm 16, David gives us another angle on this. Verses 9-11 says, “No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead, or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” So this is the promise that of the Lord that comes from Psalm 16: for all those who have Jesus in their lives. For those who don’t have Jesus Christ in their lives, this promise of forgiveness and salvation does not apply.

If Jesus is in your life, this is your living hope: Jesus lived, died, and rose from the dead. And because he was raised from the dead, he will raise us from the dead, too! But you’ve got to have Jesus in your life.

He redeems our lives from the pit and he redeems our lives from going to waste. You know, one of the things that I think so many of us do (maybe it’s just me!), is waste time and waste our lives. Often we don’t have a life worth living. We’re not just wasting away in terms of our physical self but we are wasting our days. And he says that he will redeem us from that waste.

And lastly, he redeems our lives from the pits of life. We’ve all had those moments of being in the pits and down parts of life. What has he redeemed you from recently? What pits are you in right now? Thank him for those! Yes, thank him!! The Scripture says to thank God in all things, in all circumstances.

To illustrate the value of focusing on Jesus and pits:

“A subjective person came along and said, “I feel for you down there.”

An objective person came along and said, “It’s logical that someone would fall down there.”

A Christian scientists came along and said, “You only think you’re in the pit.”

A Pharisee came along and said, “Only bad people fall into the pit.”

Confucius came along and said, “If you would have listened to me, you wouldn’t be in that pit.”

Buddha came along and said, “Your pit is only a state of mind.”

A realist came along and said, “Now that’s a pit.”

A scientist came along and calculated the pressure necessary, pounds and square inches to get him out of the pit.

A geologist came along and told him to appreciate and study the rock strata in the pit.

An evolutionist came along and said, “You are a rejected mutant, destined to be removed from the evolutionary cycle. In other words, you are going to die in the pit. So you can’t produce any more pit-falling offspring!”

The country inspector came along and said, “Did you have a permit to dig that pit?”

A professor came along and gave him a lecture on the elementary principles of the pit.

A self-pitying person came along and said, “You haven’t seen anything until you have seen my pit!”

An optimist came along and said, “Things aren’t going to get worse.”

A pessimist came along an said, “Things are going to get worse.”

A sympathetic person came along and said, “Now that’s a pity.”

Jesus came along, saw the man in the pit, took him by the hand and lifted him out.”

That’s what Jesus does, when he comes after us, when he offers this great gift of changing our lives. Does he live in you? He can make a difference in your life, in your pits, and in every area and every dimension of your being. Why don’t you thank him for that? Thank him with all your heart and then live like it!