What will I give to the Lord? – Preaching
Preaching Outline on Psalm 116:12-14 – What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will drink the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
Introduction to Psalm 116:12-14
The person who recognizes the existence of God is often moved by a feeling of repayment towards Him, that is, the person who has the sensitivity to recognize the Lord’s benefits in their life, always seeks to do something to please Him, as a form of “payment” for what they have received. This also happens especially when a person is in need of something they want to ask God for.
This feeling once arose in King David’s heart. He was a powerful man in Israel, and he certainly had the possessions and resources to offer something to the Lord in return. He must have thought about what would please the Lord the most… what could live up to all the benefits provided to the king, such as answers to prayers, deliverance from death and enemies, his justice, his mercy and so many other blessings.
What should we give God for all his benefits?
What does man have to offer God?
How could man really please God?
Could “good works”, sacrifices, offerings of money and material things make God’s heart happy and satisfy him?
Would a religious life be enough to make him happy?
David thought long and hard to find a way to repay God for all his benefits, and only through revelation did he discover how to please the Lord.
Development
Man certainly has nothing in himself that he can offer God, so the Lord accepts nothing that comes from man. Nor does he need anything, for he is God, Lord of all things, so everything belongs to him.
It was with these things in mind that David sought from the Lord what would be pleasing to his heart. Then the Holy Spirit revealed this secret, this mystery, which was actually prophetic and which we can clearly see in Gethsemane, and which was completed on Golgotha:
I will drink the cup of salvation
David got the answer when he understood, by revelation, that one day the Son of God would take the cup of our guilt and sins upon himself and give himself up on the cross to die in our place. The cup that Jesus asked the Father to pass from him, if possible, represented all his suffering and humiliation for our sins. In fact, Jesus took the cup of our salvation and drank it himself, so that through faith in his redemptive work, we might attain eternal life.
So the only way to please God is to drink the cup of salvation, that is, to acknowledge his sacrifice and accept Jesus as our Savior. Faith in Jesus is the only thing we can offer the Lord for all the good he has done for us, and this does not come from man, but from God himself.
I will call on the name of the Lord
So when we recognize the redemptive work of Jesus and believe in his name, we begin to call on the name of the Lord. Anyone who takes the cup of salvation begins to depend on the Lord and to call on his name in every need. The Lord who governs our lives is the source of all benefits, and this moves us to constantly drink the cup of salvation.
Conclusion of Psalm 116:12-14
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people
So the vow we make to the Lord when we take the cup of salvation is our faithfulness and obedience to him. This should produce in us a life of witness before all the Lord’s people, generating a fruit that is the result of the Holy Spirit’s operation in our lives. This fruit is the life of Jesus in us, it is the manifestation of the Lord Jesus in our lives, that we are part of his body.
In this way, the end result is pleasing to God, because he sees his Son, the Lord Jesus, in us. What we offer to God is not what comes from our fallen nature, but the presence of Jesus in our hearts.
Preaching Outline on Psalm 116:12-14 – What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? I will drink the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
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