Sermon Tone Analysis

Pastor Hawkin’s 1998 Anniversary

!

How Can I Say Thanks At Anniversary Time?

Psalm 116:12-15

Psalm 103:1-5

 

 

        On the day that God delivered the children of Israel from the harsh bondage of slavery, we find these words in

 

Exodus 13:3, “And Moses said to the people, ‘Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the Lord brought you out from this place.

And nothing leavened shall be eaten.’”

Here, in the word “remember,” Moses established an annual, memorial celebration to celebrate what God did for Israel that day.

Moses established an anniversary celebration to remember the miraculous deliverance of Jehovah God.  *The word "celebration" also denotes the festive, merrymaking, grateful, happy aspects of worship.*

*  God has been showing me that humanity needs celebration.*

*  He has been showing me that celebration is a very important part of the Christian life!*

*  He has been showing me that celebration is of special significance and importance to African-American Christians.*

 

*In short, we need to fellowship together in festive celebrations commemorating what Jesus did for us on the cross, feasting on the Word of God!!!  We should also celebrate the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, but there is another important time of celebration:  anniversaries.*

Today we ought to be thankful and celebrate what God has done through Pastor and Sister Hawkins here at The Good Shepherd Baptist Church—but there is a problem.

I believe that American people have, for the most part, lost the capacity to be thankful.

This malady brings to mind a question that is posed in an outstanding song written by Andre Crouch, entitled:  “My Tribute.”

\\ Listen to the words of this song:

 

 

*My Tribute*

 

How can I say thanks for the things You have done for me¾

Things so undeserved, yet You give to prove Your love for Me?

The voices of a million angels could not express my gratitude¾

All that I am and ever hope to be, I owe it all to Thee.

To God be the glory, to God be the glory,

To God be the glory for the things He has done!

With His blood He has saved Me, With His pow’r He has raised me¾

To God be the glory for the things He has done!

Just let me live my life¾Let it be pleasing, Lord, to Thee;

And should I gain any praise, Let it go to Calvary.

With His blood He has saved me, With His pow’r He has raised me¾

To God be the glory for the things He has done!

To God be the glory for the things He has done.

The words of this song restate the question that is found in Psalm 116:12 and then answers the question.

Would you turn there with me please?

The Psalmist wrote in

 

Psalm 116:12, “What shall I render to the LORD, for all His benefits toward me?”

The inspiration for Andre Crouch’s song evidently arises from this verse of Scripture.

The words of the song, especially the two phrases in the first line, express the question of Psalm 116:12.

·        “How can I say thanks...”, correlates to “What shall I render to the LORD;” and

·        “for the things you have done for me,” correlates to “...for all His benefits toward me?”

But Andre Crouch goes on to answer the question with the theme:  To God Be The Glory!  *His answer to the question is thanksgiving, praise, and worship!

And his answer is entirely biblical and appropriate.*

We shall use the first phrase of “My Tribute” as our theme for this sermon:  “How Can I Say Thanks At Anniversary Time?”  What a great question!

What a great question as we celebrate this great occasion.

David’s commands, to the Israelites, give us one answer to the challenging question before us.

Psalm 29:2 NIV, “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness.”

“How Can I Say Thanks?”

The answer is:  Worship the Lord!

That is what the psalmist said and that is what “My Tribute” says.

(But before we can deal with the what and how of worship, we must deal with a very important implied question:  “Why should I say thanks?”)

From the looks of things, circumstances, and people around me, I cannot assume that people understand why or for what reasons they ought to be saying, “Thank you,” to the Lord.

What do I see?

I see an unthankful, unholy, nation, and world!!!

        In 116th Psalm, the psalmist is writing a song of personal thanksgiving.

Why he should thank, praise, and worship God is seen in the Psalm.

In the Psalm, he reiterates his love for the Lord, he rehearses his past distresses, he reports and reflects on his deliverance, and he resolves anew to praise the Lord for his deliverance.

He knows why He should thank the Lord, and it is in recounting the reasons why that he arrives at the question before us:

 

“What shall I render to the LORD for all His benefits toward me?”

I would like to suggest that God’s benefits through Pastor Hawkins are corporate benefits for Good Shepherd Baptist Church and individual benefits for its members.

The genuinely saved members of this church share a mystical, spiritual /koinonia/ or communion through the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit!

Thus the blessings to Pastor Hawkins, or any of the community, are blessings to all members of the community—and vice versa.

No wonder Paul exhorts us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

 

/(Now some of you may be saying, “What benefits?”

Perhaps we can better see the benefits that David had in mind, by looking at Psalm 103:1-5?)/

 

Psalm 103:1-5

“A Psalm of David.

Bless the LORD, O my soul;

And all that is within me, bless His holy name.

[2] Bless the LORD, O my soul,

And forget none of His benefits; 

 [3] Who pardons all your iniquities;

Who heals all your diseases;

 [4] Who redeems your life from the pit;

Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

 [5] Who satisfies your years with good things,

So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

/(Here we can see:)/

 

I.

THE BENEFITS OF SERVING THE LORD (Psalm 103:1-5).

In this Psalm, as in many written by David, we have an exhortation to bless the Lord.

But, this particular exhortation is not to Israel, but to himself.

\\ The word ‘bless’ is 1288 barak and signifies or means

 

“1.

bless God, adore with bended knees” (Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius).

Ryrie says the phrase, ‘bless the Lord,’ means “adore and thank Him.”  *David is exhorting thankful worship of Jehovah God from his soul, i.e. his whole person (intellect, emotion, will, etc.).*  *He is exhorting himself to worship God with all that is within him, i.e. with everything that he has.

This is certainly total, intense, worship and praise.*

Sometimes, we have to exhort our own souls to worship God!  Sometimes we have to talk to ourselves, encourage ourselves, exhort our souls, command our souls, to worship the Lord!!!

This is not worshipping when you feel like it, but commandeering our souls for the purpose of all-out worship of God.

Jewish worship is a long way from our subdued, sedated concept of worship.

/(What is the object of this all-out praise?)/

He is directing his worship and praise toward the magnificent, virtuous, excellent, holy name of God.

A name, in the Hebrew culture, represented the character, personality, etc., of a person.

In short, a name represented the who person.

So, the name of God represents the whole person of God!!!

 

/(But what is his motivation to thank and worship God so intensely?)/

In this passage of Scripture, it is first God’s holy, righteous, magnificent name.

*That is a good reason for us to intensely worship God, because of the excellence of His name in all the earth!!!*

*But then he adds another reason for intensely worshipping God:  God’s benefits!!!*  *He did not want to forget any of God’s benefits.*

*Maybe that is the reason so many modern Christians can’t worship God intensely?

Perhaps they are unaware of or have forgotten His benefits?

It is so easy to forget the benefits of God, when He daily loads us with benefits.*

/(Well, if we are unaware of or have forgotten God’s benefits, David gives us a representative list.)/