Message of the Week

The Little White Community Church

Scripture:  Ps. 44   Nov. 17, 2024

Message: “Count Your Blessings!”

by Pastor George Gnade

Intro: 1. Most of you know the first verse of “Count Your Blessings.” “When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed; when you are discouraged thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings! Name them one by one. And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

2. That is a good song to sing as we look ahead to Thanksgiving Day. It is also a good song to sing as we consider Ps. 44.

A. As the Psalmist counted his blessings, he recalled the blessings of the past.

1. In vs. 1, he writes: “We have heard with our ears, O God, what our forefathers have told us, what you did in their days, in days long ago.”

a. Vs. 2 continues: “With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our fathers. You crushed other people and made our father’s flourish.”

b. “It was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them (Vs. 3).”

2. If you know your Bible, the author is describing how God called Moses and used him to deliver Israel from the Egyptians. They were helpless to help themselves. But God didn’t need their help! He had the power to do this all by Himself. And He did! He called the Israelites His chosen people and blessed them in many special ways. 

3. This was a very important blessing from the past.

B. Secondly, please observe that what happened in the past had a lot to do with who the psalmist was in the present.

1. In vs. 4, he writes: “You are my king and my God, who decreed victories for Jacob.”

a. Jacob was renamed Israel by God Himself after He made Himself known to Jacob. His sons became known as the twelve tribes of Israel.

b. In faith, the writer had committed himself and his family to the Lord, the God of Jacob.  He knew God deserved the credit for all the blessings he had. 

2. He writes: “Through you we pushed back our enemies… I do not trust in my bow, my sword does not bring victory, but you give us the victory… and in God we make our boast all the day long and we will praise your name forever

(vs. 5-8).  

C. Please observe, the same things could be said about us.

1. By the grace of God, Jesus was born over 2,000 yrs. ago. He came to show us how much God loves us and even died on the cross so that whoever will believe in Him can be forgiven and receive everlasting life.

a. He did wonderful miracles during His life and amazingly rose from the dead three days after they crucified Him.

b. One of our hymn writers wrote: “Jesus paid it all; all to Him I owe. Sin had caused a crimson stain, but He washed it white as snow.” 

3. So we should feel just like the psalmist felt. 

a. We are who we are and believe what we believe all because of what God did for us in the past through the Lord Jesus.

b. And if we are wise, we should realize that all of our blessings in the present are still ours because of what He did in the past. 

4. This also has a lot to do with our own country, the United States of America. 

a. Our country was settled primarily by Christians who were being persecuted in Europe. They came here so they could worship the Lord freely.

b. Obviously others came here too. But the Judeo-Christian tradition had the most influence. 

c. For almost 200 yrs. the gospel has been preached, and many people in our country today claim to be Christians because of the freedom we have had to share our faith unhindered. We openly claim that Jesus is our King and the God of the Bible is our God. 

D. But something has changed and is changing. That is exactly how the psalmist felt. 

1. In vs. 9, he writes: “But now you have rejected and humbled us; you no longer go out with our armies… You gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations.”

a. I am not sure exactly when this particular psalm was written. But clearly many Jews who lived before Jesus came felt like this writer felt. They could not understand why everything had gone wrong.

b. In the present, many Christians all over the world feel like they have been delivered over to the enemy and they don’t understand it either.

4. Even here in America, many Christians see things changing very rapidly and feel powerless to stop it. And we know in our hearts that only God can help us.

E. Finally, consider the psalmists response to all of this.

1. In the O.T., the Bible explains how many Jews wandered away from their faith and were being punished for doing so.  But there were others, like this psalmist, who had not wandered away. 

a. In vs. 17-19, he writes: “All this has happened to us, though we have not forgotten you… Our hearts have not turned back nor have our feet strayed… but you have crushed us and made us a haunt for jackals…”

b. “If we had forgotten the name of our God or spread out our hands to other gods, would not God have discover-ed this… Yet for your sake we face death all day long, we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered” (vs. 21-22).

2. In vs. 23-25, he writes: “O Lord, awake… Hide not your face from us. We are brought down to the dust… Rise up and help us.” 

a. The Bible often speaks of the godly remnant. Think of people like Daniel who went into captivity even though they loved the Lord. 

b. In the last days, Christians have been warned that Satan will be allowed to persecute us, just as they were allowed to crucify Jesus.  As Jesus put it, “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”

c. Paul warned of this in Rom. 8:35-36 where he quoted from Ps. 44:22. Sometimes God allows Christians to be slaughtered like sheep. But if we hold firm to His name, even death cannot separate us from Him (Rom. 8:37-39). 

3. It takes eyes of faith for Christians not to give up during hard times.  It takes eyes of faith to count your blessing even when everything seems to be going wrong. But eyes of faith will enable us to go on believing and even to be used of God wherever He places us. 

4. And eyes of faith will enable us to see His blessings in spite of the hardships. May God grant us the courage to be faithful even in hard times. Amen!  “Maranatha!” Please “come, O Lord” (I Cor. 16:22)! Please come, Lord Jesus!