Author: Haverland

HOW CAN I REPAY THE LORD

Text: Psalm 116:12-14
Readings: Psalm 116; Luke 11:1-13
Heidelberg Catechism LD 45
Theme: The psalmist resolves to respond to God’s goodness by being thankful and faithful.
Purpose: To remind us of God’s faithfulness to us and to encourage us to respond by being thankful in prayer and faithful in obedience. 

In the early years of raising children parents spend a lot of time teaching and training them. One important part of that training is teaching them to be thankful. When you give your children their dinner, or a drink, or a biscuit you want them to respond with, “thank you”. You want them to do this, not just to teach them good manners, but also to teach them to appreciate what they are given in life, to encourage them in a general thankfulness for what they have received.

We want to be like this ourselves. If someone does something for us we are grateful. A person might give you some money to pay for a train ticket because it was more than you expected, or they might loan you money because you had sunk deep into debt, or they might have you stay with them while you are looking for a house, or they might rescue you from a burning car or from drowning in the sea. In any of these situations you would be grateful and you would express your thanks. To say thank you is natural, fitting and appropriate. 
If that it is so in our relationship with other people, how much more we would be thankful to God for all he has given to us!

Psalm 116 is a psalm of thankfulness to the Lord. We will consider verses 12-14 in connection with the third and final part of the catechism that deals with our gratitude to God. We express our gratitude to him by obeying his commandments and by praying. 

Verses 12-14 ask a question and give us the answer. The question is; “How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?” The psalmist answers by describing his response to God. So we are going to consider, first, God’s goodness to us and, second, our response to him. 

1. GOD’S GOODNESS TO US (v 12)

a. We don’t know who wrote this psalm, but it is clear that the author went through a time of great difficulty and trial. Verse 3; “The anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.” His soul was close to death, his eyes were full of tears and his feet were stumbling. 

b. But the Lord delivered him from all of this so he could “walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” (v 9) The Lord had heard his voice and his cry for mercy (v 1). God was gracious and righteous and full of compassion; (v 5) God had been good to him. 
The same root of the word for “good” used in verse 7 comes through in verse 12 where he describes “all his goodness”. 
That Hebrew word is only used here in the Old Testament; it refers to all God’s benefits, all his kindness.  

c. In response to all this he asks his question; “How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?” (v 12)

We need to ask the same question. But we ask it with an even greater knowledge of God’s goodness to us because of all he has done for us in his Son Jesus. God sent his One and Only Son to die for our sin. God has reconciled us to himself and he forgives us our sins because of the death of Jesus on the cross. The Heidelberg Catechism explains this great deliverance in Part II as it takes us through the Apostles Creed and the Sacraments. We are even more grateful that the Old Testament people of God; we have even more for which to thank the Lord!

The question implies that we do not deserve what God had given to us; we have not earned God’s goodness or worked for it. Rather God has given it to us, out of his mercy, his grace, his favour and his love; because he is good!

We also know that we can never repay God for what God had done for us. Think of a swimmer rescued from drowning by a lifesaver, or a woman whose life is saved by a surgeon through a delicate operation, or a man who is rescued from bankruptcy by a wealthy and generous individual. None of these people can repay the other for what they have done. How can you repay another for your life? How can you ever repay a massive monetary debt? 

In the same way we realize that we cannot repay God for our salvation in Christ. We may have the desire for this, but we don’t have the means. We can never compensate God for his gifts to us. 

So what is the answer to this question? How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?

2. OUR RESPONSE TO GOD (v 13-14)

The psalmist responded in two ways; he said he would be thankful and faithful to God.

a. In verse 13 he expressed his intention to be thankful; “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”

i. “The cup of salvation” most likely refers to the Old Testament fellowship offering which could be offered to God as an expression of thanks to him. (Lev 7:12-15) After that offering the people would have a thanksgiving feast, a meal. In the meal they would drink a cup of wine in thanksgiving to God for his salvation. The writer of this psalm referred to this again in verse 17 where he wrote; “I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.”

ii. To “call on the name of the Lord” is to pray to God. Prayer is calling on God, speaking to him, communicating with him. 
The psalmist wants to do this, but it is also something God “requires of us”, as the catechism mentions. (Q.116) The Catechism, of course, is quite right because the Scriptures command us to pray:  
1 Thess 5:16ff; “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.” 
Cols 4:2; “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”

iii. The emphasis in these verses is on being thankful to God in prayer. The Catechism says, “Prayer is the most important part of the thankfulness God requires of us.” Prayer is the right and proper response to God for all he has given to us. We cannot repay him for his goodness to us, but we can thank him.

You could compare this to the relationship of children to their parents. If you add up all the costs involved in raising children – food, clothing, loss of income, doctors, education, sport, music, and so on - it comes to 100s of thousands of dollars. Can most children repay their parents for that? No. Do parents expect them to? Not at all! So what is an appropriate response? A fitting response is gratitude. That means the most to those of us who are parents – a card expressing thanks, an email, words of appreciation.

It is the same with us as the adopted children of our Father in heaven. Can we repay him the Lord for all he has done for us? No. Does he expect us to? Not at all! But we can and should “call on the name of the Lord.” We can and must express our thanks to him in prayer. This is the most direct expression of our gratitude to God. 

The psalms are a great help to us in giving us words to express our thanks.
“Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, 
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
His love endures forever.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
His love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1ff)

Sadly, gratitude and thanks are often a neglected part of our prayers to God. We easily and naturally ask for things, but we are slower to give him thanks. In your prayers try to begin by praising God for who he is and then thanking him for all he has done for you. 

A children’s song urges us; 
“Count your blessings, name them one by one; and it will surprise you what the Lord has done!”

And a hymn reminds us;
“How vast the benefits divine 
Which we in Christ possess.
We are redeemed from sin and shame
And called to holiness.
‘Tis not for works that we have done,
These all to him we owe,
But he of his electing love
Salvation doth bestow.” (PH 386)

iv. Having said that, we are allowed to ask God for all we need. He commands us to pray for “everything we need, spiritually and physically.” (HC Q.118) God is a generous and gracious Father and he wants to help us as his children. 

Again, we could compare this with the relationship between a parent and a child. Imagine that one of your children was going through great difficulty – it might be financial, or work pressures, or ill-health, or not coping with their children – and they muddle along without telling you. After some time you hear about their trials and troubles. You say to them; “Why didn’t you ask for help?! We would have been happy to help you; you only needed to ask!” 

It is the same with our Father in heaven. Do you need help, guidance, strength, comfort, direction, or forgiveness? Then ask him! He wants you to ask, and he is only too willing to help. 
Jesus spoke about a father who wanted to give good gifts to his children and said; “how much more will you Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” (Matt 7:11) “Ask and you will receive.” (John 14:26)
Paul reinforces this in his letter to the church in Philippi; “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil 4:8)

How can we repay the Lord for all his goodness to us? By being thankful in prayer, 

b. And by being faithful

Verse 14 reads:
“I will fulfill my vows to the Lord 
in the presence of all his people.”

i. A vow to God is a voluntary promise to 
do something for the Lord, or to make an offering to him as an expression of our love and thankfulness. The people of Israel often promised God a sacrifice.

In the New Testament we don’t make animal sacrifices any more because Jesus has laid down his life as the perfect sacrifice for sin. 

Rather, we offer a sacrifice of words;
“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name.” (Hebrews 13:15)

We also offer a sacrifice of our lives; “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.” (Romans 12:1) 

We need to be thankful to God and express this in prayer, but we also need to be faithful in our lives and express this in obedience to God’s commands.

Think of a marriage where a husband often says to his wife; “I love you. Thanks for all you do for me. You are looking beautiful today.” But he doesn’t do anything around the house, nothing at all, and if she asks him to do something for her he ignores her or refuses to do it! His wife would say to him; “It is all very well telling me that you love me, but I want to see that in action! I’d like you to put that into practice. Please mow the laws, put out the rubbish, give the kids a bath, fix the leak in the sink, come home from work on time so you can help me with the children!”

It is the same with our relationship with God. Prayers of thanks must be accompanied by a life of obedience. It is significant that the Heidelberg Catechism puts the Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer together in this final section on gratitude. They belong together. You cannot separate them. You cannot have one without the other. You cannot keep the commandments without praying for God’s help. And keeping the commandments without genuine prayer leads to formalism and works righteousness. God wants us to be both thankful and faithful. 

ii. The writer of this psalm resolved to fulfill his vow to the Lord and he wanted to do this “in the presence of all his people.” (v 14b)

In his gratitude to God for all his goodness he went to the temple to offer a sacrifice, “in the courts of the house of the Lord – in your midst, O Jerusalem.” (v 19) 

Faith is not just a private and individual matter; it is something we share with God’s people. We come together to pray our prayers of praise and thanks, of confession and intercession. We come together to hear God’s Word and to encourage each other in lives of thankful obedience. 

This psalm expresses thanks to God for all his goodness to us. 

Are you expressing your thanks to God in prayer - privately and in worship? 

Are you expressing your thanks to him by living faithfully in obedience to his commandments?

Amen