Thanksgiving
The Psalms • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 1 viewWe are going to learn what it means to give thanks with a humble and grateful heart even in the midst of adversity.
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Psalm 138 - Poor Bishop Hooper
Thanksgiving, How often are we actually thankful for things that happen? How do we show our thankfulness to God for what He has done in our lives.
In 1978, a young seminary graduate named Henry Smith was struggling to find work and coming to terms with a degenerative eye condition that would eventually leave him legally blind. Despite those hardships, Henry found hope in
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ: Though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.
and penned “Give Thanks,” one of the most beloved songs of our time. And now let the weak say, ‘I am strong’; Let the poor say, ‘I am rich’ because of what the Lord has done. Years later, a young worship leader named Don Moen would record Henry’s song, helping to carry it around the world. Today, you can hum “Give Thanks” at almost any church in the world, no matter the country or the language, and someone will recognize this simple song of thanksgiving and trust.
We are told to give thanks, despite the circumstances. But how do we learn how to do that. This is one of the things the Psalms teach us as well. It is something that we can sing and keep in our hearts as well. We see people teaching that faith means no hard times will come but what we are going to learn hear is that adversity will come but in the midst of it we can give thanks and find joy and learn faith because of who God is and what He is going to do. We are going to learn what it means to give thanks with a humble and grateful heart even in the midst of adversity.
vs 1-2 - Thank God with Praise
We get started with the main idea, the main purpose, what exactly it is God was calling us to do.
1 I will give you thanks with all my heart; I will sing your praise before the heavenly beings.
We talked about what the heart means a few weeks ago. This still does have bearing on what we talk about going forward. If you remember, when the Bible talks about the heart, to do something with our hearts it is saying that The heart is the central point of our thoughts, the power of our will, place of our emotions and knowledge of morality (right and wrong).
The thing is we are told we are to give thanks with our whole heart, with our whole being. To give thanks is a common theme throughout the scriptures and the Psalms. Songs have been written about giving thanks, they all tend to be happy songs but that is okay.
I found a song a while ago by a band named Page CXVI. The song Joy talks traditionally about the joy we have in the Lord but Their version is in a minor key and sad sounding, it builds to a crescendo and in the ending contains the words can't pretend That this will be alright in the end So I'll try my best And lift up my chest To sing about this... joy, joy joy! She said about the song “The dissonance between the words and the melody/demeanour sounds ludicrous at first. But once you understand the sort of struggle it is to have an attitude of joy amidst intense grief, it isn’t so funny. It’s strangely identifiable. You find yourself at peace with how things are, but also overwhelmed with loss, and you can’t pretend that everything will be alright in the end, but you can know that God is working purposefully, if for no purpose you can see.”
It is tough sometimes to give thanks, it is not always a joyful time when we are to give thanks, but none the less that is what we are called to do, next we are going to learn why we re to give thanks, how we are to give thanks.
First we get a glimpse into how we can give thanks to God.
I will sing your praise. We show ultimate Thanks to the Lord God by praising Him. We went through lots of what this looks like last week, so I wont get into it to much. Whether we are joyful, or struggling to find joy we can give thanks to God by praising Him. This we will get into a little more in a bit as well. We better response in thanks then to praise Him for what He has done.
and again we get the reference to the heavenly beings, something we went through last week as well. They are in reference to the various gods that the people worshiped, all the false idols, the universe as a whole. Before everything that people worship, and everything else we are to proclaim the Lord's praises so all may see the mighty God we serve. The only true God.
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your constant love and truth. You have exalted your name and your promise above everything else.
The second thing we are told we need to do to show thanks to God is to bow down before Him.
What an ultimate act of humility, to swallow our proud and bow down to the creator of the world. To praise, to bow down, to sing to the the Lord God are all expressions of devotion to God. It is also a witness against idols, they are impotent and praise belongs only to God.
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
Something that we have gone over a few times to give thanks to the name of the Lord is more then just saying thank you to the various names of God. We need to remember that there is more to it then just that. The names of God, the various names that we are given express the very character of the Lord God. To give thanks to the name of God refers to the reputation of God’s Character To praise and reveal to the world around us the very Character of God.
We can know a little about God and who He is through His character revealed in His names. We can reveal to the Lord what His character by singing praises about who He is and what He has done. The very name of God invokes the promises of God and all that He has planned. What an amazing God He is.
vs 3 - the cause of our praise and thanksgiving
3 On the day I called, you answered me; you increased strength within me.
between verse 2 and 3 we get a bit more of the why we thank God.
Because of His constant love - It is the same word as lovingkindness, unfailing love. That covenant love that shows that God will always do what He said He is going to do. We can always trust in the promises of God. There is that word again, Hesed.
Because of His Truth - We thank God because of the truth of who He is, makes sense.
We Thank Him because of His exalted name and His promises.
All of these are humble expressions of devotion and praise because of who God is, this is part of who God is. H is these things, as we learn about Him, we thank Him through humbly praising Him.
Another cause of Humbly praising Him is because He answers our prayers.
We call and He answers. Not that everything we ask for is going to happen or come to pass but we can thank God that He hears us when we call out to Him. He gives us the strength we need
This rings more true to me now a days, when we call he answers. Now a days we call people, they see who is calling and think, I don't want to deal with this right now I will not answer the phone. Back in the day, you didn't know who was calling, you had to answer the phone and if they didn't get a hold of you no voicemail. But when we call, God listens. This is a big reason for Thanking God.
vs 4-5 - summons to praise
In church we call to worship, lots of church's do it differently. We usually say good morning and pray and then start out with scripture reading and singing. besides all the reasons why we need to thank God and the different reasons why we do it we are reminded that all people are one day going to Praise and Thank Him.
4 All the kings on earth will give you thanks, Lord, when they hear what you have promised.
5 They will sing of the Lord’s ways, for the Lord’s glory is great.
This looks to the future for one when all kings and nations will one day bow down in thanks for all God has done. But this is also something that should be happening now. At least then the Kings where to lead the people in thanking God, bowing down to Him, praising Him. It is what we try to encourage you to do here as well, encourage you to point your lives to Jesus and thank Him for what He has done.
Our goal, our summons to thank the Lord is to share the ways and the glory of the Lord. Based on what we do and what we sing and how we live people need to see the ways of the Lord and how we glorify Him.
Are we leading people to worship God with the way that we live our lives.
vs 6-7 - the cause for thanksgiving
What I like doing is breaking things down, to see verse by verse to see what God’s word says. Some preachers do it differently, but I believe this is the best way to get a handle on the word of God. I am not here to be a motivational speaker but help us figure out what God’s word says and what it means for our lives. more of the cause for thanking God for what He has done.
The exalted and the humble
The Lord is exalted on high yet in spite of that He takes note of the lowly. In humility we bow down before the Lord God. Yet the Lord loves us even though He is exalted on High.
30 He must increase, but I must decrease.”
Our mindset needs to be that of John the Baptist when asked about the messiah. He must increase and I must decrease. That the Lord God would love us and save anyone like me out of damnation is a miracle that I need to constantly thank God for.
7-8 - prayer to the Lord
Lastly we end with a type of prayer of thanksgiving.
7 If I walk into the thick of danger, you will preserve my life from the anger of my enemies. You will extend your hand; your right hand will save me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me. Lord, your faithful love endures forever; do not abandon the work of your hands.
The first thing to understand in this prayer is that it is a expression of faith in God. And also a declaration that Faith does not mean that you will never have adversity come your way.
We can step out in faith as we live lives of thankfulness. But through that we need to be reminded we are not immune from adversity.
The idea of the right hand of God is a symbol of strength. Not that God is right handed, but it is a symbol of the great strength of God that we can trust in.
We can have faith in the purpose of God, that what He says will come to pass.
So What?
I know there is a lot here to go through and to think about, but in this Psalm on Having a thankful heart there are a few things that we need to remember, at least this if anything remember.
What are ways we are showing our thankfulness to God?
What are ways we are showing our thankfulness to God?
Thankfulness is to be a lifestyle. In all we do people need to see the ways and the character of God in the way that we live our lives. Our lives of thankfulness need to come out in all that we do.
through our following the word of God, to everything else we need to do it in thanks. We show it by singing praises to God. You don't have to make a nice sound, but with joy sing in thankfulness. We need to bow down to God for ll He has done. We need to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God in thanks for all He has done.
How has your lifestyle shown thankfulness.
Have we seen a reason to thank God?
Have we seen a reason to thank God?
Is this something you struggle with in your day to day life? Is your life seemingly out of control and you struggle thanking God for anything?
We need to remember who God is and who we are. God is exalted and glorified, we are to humble ourselves before Him. But when we forget who He is and why we need to show thanks to God, we can come back to the promises He has given us.
The Lord hears our prayers, the Lord gives us strength, God’s promises will always come to pass, His covenant love will never end, He will not abandon the work of His hands, even though it seems like life is out of control, we can thank God that He is in control.
When we start to lose site of what it means to be thankful we just need to go back and be reminded of who God is and what He has done and come back to that place of Humility where we trust and praise the Lord of the universe for all He has done.
Are you leading people to worship the Lord by the way you live?
Are you leading people to worship the Lord by the way you live?
Through the way that we live lives of thankfulness, are we pointing other people to do the same? When life is difficult we need to remember the same thing? How are we living and is it reflecting lives worthy of the glory of God.