Dardanelle Missionary Baptist Church — Dardanelle, Arkansas
Pastor Chuck Trusty — Sunday morning service, October 18, 2026 Give Thanks · Lesson 2 · Psalm 107:1-2
A note about this lesson: early in the message the phone that was recording this service lost its signal, so the video on YouTube carries only the opening of the lesson. Because there is no recording of the whole message to write up, what follows is the manuscript Pastor Chuck preached from, so the whole lesson can be read even though the whole lesson could not be watched.
The One Point
IF WE HAVE BEEN REDEEMED - THEN WE NEED TO SAY SO.
I. A Psalm That Some of Us Already Know
All right. This morning - we are in the 107th Psalm.
And some of you are already smiling - because we spent a good part of this summer - on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights - in the 107th Psalm. For those of you who were not with us on those evenings - the 107th Psalm tells us about FOUR kinds of people who got themselves into trouble . . . and God rescued every one of them.
And if you will remember - two weeks ago - on the morning that we stood on the first step of the Great Staircase - we closed our lesson on the first two verses of this same psalm. This morning - I want us to open those two verses up.
“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;” (Psalm 107:1-2).
Last Sunday morning - we were in the 100th Psalm - and we learned that thanksgiving is the front door to all worship. Well - this morning - the 107th Psalm tells us WHO is told to come through that front door - the REDEEMED. And the 107th Psalm tells us WHAT the redeemed who walk through that front door are supposed to do - the redeemed are supposed to SAY SO.
My story - a time when I got help and said so
I remember when I had cancer - and all of the help that I got from Andy and Haley. Sarah was just about to have Wyatt when I started having problems - and by the time I started treatments - Wyatt was just a newborn. Haley did “everything” to get my treatments started - Andy took off work to take me to Chicago for one of my treatments . . . What they did for me was a big deal then - and in my mind - it is STILL a big deal. I say this to put meaning behind the statement “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so.” My daughter, in all PROBABILITY, saved my life - and I am certainly NOT ASHAMED to say so . . . God saved our eternal souls - so why are we so often hesitant to say so?
Now, the one point of our lesson this morning is that - if we have been redeemed - then we need to say so. There is NO REASON at all not to.
II. What It Cost
A. Redeemed means being bought back.
Think about a pawn shop. A pawn shop makes its money like this - I have an item - I take it to the pawn shop - they take the item - and they give me a few dollars along with a ticket that I can use to get the item back. Suppose I pawn the pocket knife that I got from my dad. I can’t go into the pawn shop and just take my dad’s knife. To get the knife back I have to show the ticket, which proves ownership - and I have to PAY THE PRICE to buy it back (to redeem the item).
B. Israel in Egypt.
“Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgments:” (Exodus 6:6).
In regard to our pawn shop example - Pharaoh had a claim on the children of Israel. And God walked into the devil’s pawn shop - with the intent of REDEEMING the nation of Israel.
The example here is that when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden - all of mankind FELL into sin - which means that sin put a claim ticket on our soul - “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). The only way to cancel that claim ticket - and keep our souls out of Satan’s hands for eternity - was for someone else to PAY the price. The price for this claim on our souls was the voluntary death of a totally sinless man - and this is why God literally became a man - and went to the cross.
And Jesus did not pay the devil one dime. Jesus paid that price to GOD - “an offering and a sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2) - and THAT is what broke the devil’s grip on us.
“Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage” (Hebrews 2:14-15).
You see - in verse 2 - “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed (bought back) from the hand of the enemy.” Before we were saved - SIN had a claim on our soul. The enemy had his hand on us like Pharaoh had his hand on Israel - and was preventing us from escaping. And there was NO WAY that we could pay the price that our enemy was asking - all have sinned - so there was no “sinless” sacrifice available (try picking yourself up by your own boot straps). So - what did it COST God to buy us back - to redeem us from the hand of SIN?
“But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9).
C. The price of our redemption.
“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation (way of life) received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).
To be REDEEMED with the blood of Christ is THE GOSPEL in eight words. The Gospel is the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus - as He took our place in death - providing an escape from spiritual death - through our faith in Jesus.
“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
When we think about our salvation - do we think about how that, because of sin, our souls have been claimed by Satan - and in order to keep us out of hell - Jesus is literally required to buy them back with the sacrifice of His sinless blood? This is what it means to be redeemed. The nation of Israel were once slaves to the Pharaoh of Egypt . . . but one day God claimed His children and He set them free from the authority that Pharaoh once had over their lives.
D. Four rescues - and ONE answer.
“Then they cried unto the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses” (Psalm 107:6).
“Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:8).
If we forget the cost - then we forget to be thankful.
Now - in each of our lives - we can all go back to a time when we were sinking in the pit - and how God reached down to save us - when we could not save ourselves. And after our salvation experience - not a single one of us has developed some type of super strength so that we no longer needed God to help us in life. If we have been saved - then God has pulled us out of the pit - delivered us from the power that sin once had over us (Pharaoh was master of the slaves in Egypt). But God has not been hiding His helping hand from us since we have been saved. What about that pit of lust - the pit of anger - the pit of doubt - the pit of hypocrisy?
REMEMBER the day that - as one of His children - God pulled us out of this pit and set us free from the hold which this sin had over us. I am not saying that we need to name the pit - but what I am saying is that we need to say that GOD has pulled us out of more pits in life than simply the pit of hell.
So - the redeemed are the ones who should remember what it cost. And the man who remembers what it cost is the man who wants to SAY SO . . . he is the man who is thankful.
III. Say So
A. Why would we WANT to say that we have been redeemed?
“And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing” (Psalm 107:22).
1. God (not self) gets the glory.
“Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth (properly arranges) his conversation (way of life) aright will I shew the salvation of God” (Psalm 50:23).
Now - I understand that we are PROUD of our freedom - we look at FREEDOM as a RIGHT - and I am not going to argue with that - but there are lots of things that we say are “rights” - but my point here is that just because it is a RIGHT - this does not mean that it is guaranteed. I say this to point out that a Christian life is a life of being set FREE from sin - so that we can become a SLAVE (servant) to God.
“But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life” (Romans 6:22).
I am major patriotic - and I am not remotely interested in living under oppression like Israel was oppressed by Pharaoh. Now - for God to get glory - when we “say so” (regarding our redemption) - is sending a message - and that message is - as much as I value FREEDOM I am willing to give up that freedom to become a SLAVE to God’s will.
Now in the history of humanity - I know of no culture that has ever existed where slavery was valued over freedom . . . but that is exactly the way it is with CHRISTIANITY. For a person to give up his freedom to follow God says something about the person - but it speaks volumes about GOD. And the whole concept of CHRISTIANITY is a burr in the side (source of conviction) to those who choose freedom instead of slavery . . . and this is WHY those who value freedom to serve Satan more than they value the slavery of Christian service lash out so violently against Christians.
2. The church gets fed. Somebody three pews over may need to hear what God has done for us.
“Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul” (Psalm 66:16).
3. The lost get to hear it. Jesus sent the man that He set free from the demons back home to tell it.
“Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee” (Mark 5:19).
WHAT WE VALUE - WE CAN’T KEEP SECRET.
Let the REDEEMED of the LORD SAY SO . . . Now we can approach this from several different angles - I’m not embarrassed to say I am saved - but I just don’t want to be pushy - I want to rely upon -
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15).
Well - that is all fine and well - but if we are not a slave to Jesus through a Christian life - then there will never be any reason for anyone to ask us about a hope in Christ - which will never be visible in our lives.
I am an American - and don’t care who knows it - I believe in traditional American values - and I honestly do not care who knows it. I believe in salvation through faith in Jesus Christ - not of works lest any man should boast - and I am not the least bit concerned about offending someone by shouting this from the top of my voice. My point is - I don’t care who you are - or what you are - a person CANNOT possibly keep from advertising what they value and what they believe.
You cannot keep what you value THE MOST in life a secret - but you can keep what you are ashamed of a secret that you take to your grave - in fact a person will go to great lengths to keep shameful deeds a secret.
“Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: For they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42-43).
They did not SAY SO - because they valued something else MORE than they valued God.
IV. This Week
So - if we want to depend upon 1 Peter 3:15 - “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you” - then we really need to live our lives so that our neighbor will have REASON to ask us about our faith.
This week - let’s tell ONE person how we got saved . . . just like I am not ashamed to say what Haley and Andy did for me - let’s not be ashamed to SAY SO about what God did for us.
THE ONE POINT: IF WE HAVE BEEN REDEEMED - THEN WE NEED TO SAY SO.
Is our life SAYING SO this week? And I suppose that there is MORE than one way to SAY SO other than saying so with our mouth . . . I think that our lives are what should be SAYING that we have been redeemed.
Scripture used (all KJV): Psalm 107:1-2, 6, 8, 22 · Exodus 6:6 · Romans 6:22-23 · Ephesians 5:2 · Hebrews 2:9, 14-15 · 1 Peter 1:18-19 · 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 · Psalm 50:23 · Psalm 66:16 · Mark 5:19 · 1 Peter 3:15 · John 12:42-43.
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