11/30/25 Psalm 147 “Count Your Blessings”

27 Nov 11/30/25 Psalm 147 “Count Your Blessings”

11/30/25    Psalm 147          “Count Your Blessings”

Sometimes when we do a mini-series like the one we have been doing off and on about prayer, we might begin with an attitude of ‘what more can I learn about something as basic as prayer?’  This might be very true.  I think that when we do a series about something as popular as prayer, we should try to keep an open mind because we might have forgotten a thing or two about prayer.  I have alluded to this in the past couple of weeks but there is one thing that God really likes when you come to Him in prayer.  He likes you to be very specific in your prayers.  He wants to hear from you in specific ways.  What exactly do you want for your family or spouse or friend?  A blessing is just too general.  When we pray in a corporate situation, it might be a little different because we are all praying.  I don’t know what a situation is so I cannot be real specific most of the time.  But as I say a name or situation, you can be very specific in your mind.  Corporate prayer can be very powerful when you take the general prayer and make it specific.  Today, we are going to look at a prayer from Psalms.  Let’s see what’s so special about this and how can we apply this prayer to our lives.

Some of you might remember the great humorist, Will Rogers.  He had a knack for stating obvious things in a different way than normal.  He said this about Thanksgiving Day, which is just celebrated.  “In the days of our founders, they were willing to give thanks for mighty little, for mighty little was what they expected. But now, neither government nor nature can give enough but what we think it’s too little. Those old boys in the fall of the year, if they could gather in a few pumpkins, potatoes and some corn for the winter, they were in a thankful mood.  If we can’t gather in a new Buick, a new radio, a tuxedo and some government relief, why, we feel that the world is against us.”  Will Rogers has been dead for many years and this is just as true today if not more.  One might think that we have a false god leading us down the path to destruction.

However, if we put our minds on the one and only true God, things will be different.  Lives change and sometimes it is instantly.  I don’t think that there is a person here today that is not thankful and grateful to God.  Therefore, notice the beginning and ending of this psalm.  There is praise.  Praise God for all things!

I’m sure that you have noticed how I usually begin my prayers.  I usually say something like ‘I thank you and praise you Lord.’  I really can’t help it.  When I come before God, I am very thankful.  People have told me that my prayers aren’t pastoral enough.  I don’t use enough thee’s and thou’s and sayeth’s and doeth’s and etheth’s.   My only defense is that I’m so glad to be able to be in the presence of the Lord that I just talk like I normally talk.  And I think that is what God wants.  He wants us to be ourselves as we come to Him.  When I am being myself I will sing out praises to the Lord Almighty.  (Sing, ‘All Hail King Jesus’ All hail Emmanuel )  The reason praise songs are so short or repetitious is that we are singing to give praise and not so much for content.  Sing Praise!

If you feel you can’t sing out like that then let me list some of the things that we are to be grateful for in our lives that come from our glorious God.  In this one psalm He tells us He will heal our broken hearts, He will bind up our wounds, He will sustain the humble, supply rain for our fields and food for our livestock, and He will strengthen the bars of our gates as He blesses us, feeds us and grants us peace.  This is just from one little old psalm.  Please remember that a psalm is another word for song.  I would sure love to hear the original tune for this psalm.  I guess it would be upbeat and snappy.  Anyway, what I’m trying to say here is that we are to pray every prayer and sing every song with thanksgiving and praise.

I try to teach our confirmation classes how to pray by always beginning and ending with praise.  Then put your petition in the middle.  I think that the reason this is so important is that it gets our minds off ourselves.  When you begin with praise, then your focus is exactly where it should be; right on God.  I don’t care what the problem is or how big an issue you face, God is far, far bigger.  I don’t care what kind of expert you are or what kind of expert you need, God has far more expertise.  When you learn to focus more on God and less on you, your prayer life will become more vibrant and alive!

I would just like to talk about of a couple things that God does for us from this passage that are very important.  He heals our broken hearts and binds up our wounds.  One of the unfortunate ailments we have had since the beginning of time is the broken heart.  I don’t think that we can really live life without having a broken heart here and there.  Unfortunately, we often cause the broken heart ourselves.  This is just a part of the human condition and as long as we aren’t perfect, this type of thing will continue to happen.

The sad part of a broken heart aside from the event itself is in how we deal with it.  I want to tell you today that the world is not the place to begin to heal a broken heart.  Jesus Christ is the first step.  If you begin any other way or leave Him out of the equation, then you will not deal with a broken heart effectively.  Jesus Christ has to be present.  Now I also think that therapists and professional people can help but they will not finish the job unless you first take it to Jesus.  I just talked about how our prayers should begin and end in praise with the substance in the middle.  Here we have the same type of equation used in a real life situation; healing broken hearts.  First praise the Lord and then bring your problem to Jesus.  Listen and do what Jesus tells you to do.  It may be using a counselor or whatever but you have to do it if Jesus tells you.  Then be thankful for His providing such people and such help.  Jesus will heal the broken hearted and not just cover up the symptoms.  Jesus is the Great Healer!

As we are in the healing process, He binds our wounds.  When we are broken hearted or we are hurt in any way, it takes time to heal.  You may have to keep going to Jesus for years before your heart is finally healed.  Just remember that Jesus will help you change that dressing on your hurt for as long as it takes.  He will not get tired of binding your wounds.  We read this in Isaiah and I use this at funerals.  Jesus does not grow tired.  It is us who grow tired.  Keep bringing your troubles to Jesus until they are gone.  You were not made to be dragged down by these things.

Next notice how the psalmist mixes in praises with petitions.  After telling how He will heal the broken hearted, he tells how God determines the number of stars and their names.  Great is the Lord and mighty in power.  God has no limit.  Then he goes back to the petition.  This psalmist sprinkles in praises all through the song.

I would like to zero in on God’s understanding that has no limit.  If God made all the stars and named them, I would say that He also has no physical limits.  I would like us to remember that this was written after the exile by the people who returned to Jerusalem.  These people had been exiled and even though they were given many freedoms in exile, they still couldn’t be at their Temple which they considered to be sacred.  So now they are back just as they had been promised.  They were thankful as they realized more and more just how big and powerful God really is.

We think just the opposite in this country.  Maybe we think like the exiled people who did not return to Jerusalem.  There would have been millions of those who did not return because their faith was not strong, or maybe they believed in themselves more than they believed in God.  This is where we are today.  Even though we say that we have this wonderful Christian country, I have to wonder as I look at our activities that help us to avoid contact with God.  These are the things that keep us from worship on Sunday and prayer any other time.  We are supposed to support things that are absolutely against the will of God.  I would say that the majority of people in this so-called Christian country might be in for a tremendous shock when they die and find themselves in that rotten place that they claimed never existed in the first place.  I just shudder!

I read an interesting idea once and I think that we should try it.  I have heard so many times that someone just cannot fit another thing into their schedule and it is usually something like prayer or devotions or helping in their church.  I have heard this from people who honestly don’t think they have the time.  Other times this is just a standard answer because they don’t want to get involve but that is a whole other story.  I’m talking about you folks who are sincere in your problem of not having enough time.

So this is what I want you to try.  If this is your frame of mind, then chances are that you are trying to solve the problem.  Do you see the problem here?  You are trying to solve the problem because you are trying to figure out how much time you have and how you will solve it.  I want you to change your reference or orientation about time.  It’s not your time.  It never has been and it never will be your time.  It’s God’s time.  To solve this problem, remember that this time is God’s time and let Him solve it for you.  Instead of giving God 10% of your time, which I doubt if any of us come close, give Him 100% of your time and let Him lead you in the right ways of life that will lead to happiness and satisfaction.  As long as it is your time, you cannot have this.  Change your way of thinking and you will find things will begin to clear for you.

Try this as you develop your prayer time to a time of praise, petition, praise, petition until you finish with praise.  See what happens to your life because you are special, very special.  Our last verse tells you just how special you are.  It says, “He has done this for no other nation; they do not know His laws.”  Please understand that the people who neighbored the Jews didn’t understand them because God doesn’t reveal himself to anyone but His people, unless there was a special circumstance.  That is one of the reasons they were hated so much.  They didn’t understand Judaism.  The Jews would prosper when they followed God and their neighbors didn’t; thus the hate.

In today’s world, you are that special.  God reveals things to you that He will not reveal to your neighbor.  People don’t like to hear this but God takes care of His people and the rest are left on their own.  They can pray but I don’t know who they are praying to because God isn’t answering unless they want to come to Him.  However, He will listen to you no matter what is happening.  There are no circumstances where He isn’t listening to you.  Now if you fall outside of His listening because you don’t know Jesus, then confess your sins to Him and ask Him to live in your heart as your Lord and Savior. It is that easy!

Instantly, He will be listening and helping you.  Instantly Jesus will be guiding you.  He will heal your broken hearts and bind up your wounds.  He will supply rain for your fields and food for your livestock, and He will strengthen the bars of your gates as blesses you, feeds you and grants you peace.  All of this and more can be yours if you would just surrender your life to Him.  Grant Jesus that time is 100% His time and then let Him guide you.  This is not fiction but actual reality.  God loves all people but He only reveals Himself to His believers.  When Jesus reveals Himself to us, well, it’s no wonder that I always open my prayers with praise and thanksgiving.  Praise the Lord!

You have got so much to praise the Lord for in prayer.  You are so blest.  Jeff Strite tells the true story of Jack Hinton who went on a short term mission trip to Tobago.   He was leading worship at a leper colony and there was time for one more song so he asked if there anyone had a request.  There was a woman who had been turned away from the pulpit for the whole service.  She turned to make a request and he saw the most hideous face he had ever seen.  You know that leprosy can really be ugly as many features of the face melt away.  Limbs can also be lost and this was one of the worst cases he had seen.  She lifted her fingerless hand and asked, “Can we sing ‘Count Your Many Blessings?’  When Jack left the service he was asked if he would ever be able to sing that song again.  He said he would but he would never sing it the same way.

People, here was a woman who by our standards had lost everything, everything.  And still she was able to praise the Lord and count her blessings.  You have so many blessings.  You have so many riches that Jesus has given you.  This is the last in our prayer series and I hope that we have learned that if Jesus had to pray, then you do also.  I hope that you will pray for your church to grow by 5 people in the next year.  And finally I hope that you realize just how blest you already are and that you always go to prayer with much praise and thanksgiving.

This life you live is not about you.  It’s about Jesus and Jesus only.  Learn to go to Him for any and all things.  He will listen and answer your every call.  He does all these things and more because He loves you so much.  Go to Him and go to Him often.  Thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.