Gratitude: Because of God's Glory

Introduction

Question: “Why did Adam and Eve sin against God?”

He created them.

He placed them in a garden.

He met their every need.

He walked with them.

Why did they choose to sin against God who loved them and provided for them? Why?

Was the enemy so convincing that Adam and Eve were to compelled to turn away from God?

Where they so vulnerable to the enemy’s tactics, that they really had no choice?

Or, could it be that the enemy took advantage of a stronghold that developed in the character of the first man and first woman?

Could it be that Satan’s work appealed to Adam and Eve—fed into there pride and lack of gratitude toward God?

Did Adam and Eve fail to appreciate all that God had done for them? Did they not grasp the heart of worship and thanksgiving?

Author Jeremiah Burroughs writes, “Worship is not only doing what pleases God, but also being pleased with what God does.”

Pastor William Barcley stated: “Worship includes taking delight in and giving thanks for all that God brings into our lives—in all circumstances. The thankful heart is the worshipful heart. The thankless heart is incapable of worshiping God.”

In the Scripture, the Apostle Paul wrote a stinging detail of human sin and God’s judgement.

No person was excluded from this indictment.

At the root of it all was humanity’s failure to honor God and give Him thanks!

Romans 1:21 ESV

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

The lack of gratitude is a dangerous place. For a thankless heart is a prideful heart ready to be led astray by the enemy of our heart.

So, how do we replace pride and thanklessness for a life filled with gratitude for God and His glory?

Christian doctrine is grace, and Christian conduct is gratitude.

J. I. Packer

Gratitude ought to be, and I believe it is, in the heart the most powerful force in human motive.

Resurrection For The Just And The Unjust, Volume 59, Sermon #3346 - Acts 24:15

Charles Spurgeon

Text: Psalm 100

Psalm 100 ESV

A Psalm for giving thanks. 1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! 3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! 5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

Transition

Let’s use this Psalm as a springboard into gratitude.

1. Make a joyful noise

This is a homage-shout or fanfare to a king. This verse claims the world for God.

Psalm 100:1 ESV

1 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!

Heaven is going to be a noisy place—there will be no such thing a timid worship.

However, a worshipful shout is not just reserved for heaven.

For Joshua facing Jericho: “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city.” It is a shout of divine victory. (Josh 6:16)

For David bringing the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to Jerusalem, it was brought with “shouting, to the sound of the horn, trumpets, and cymbals, and made loud music on harps and lyres.” (1 Ch 15:28)

For Ezra and the restoration of the Temple in Jerusalem: “All the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord.” (Ezra 3:11)

For Jesus when he entered Jerusalem - the people were shouting: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” (Mat 21:9-10)

Verbalize and express gratitude and worship to God.

2. Serve the Lord with gladness

Have you ever had a job that you didn’t like? It is hard to be happy, grateful, or appreciative.

But with God we are called to serve him and to serve him with the right attitude.

Psalm 100:2 ESV

2 Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!

We serve him with gladness and come into his presence with singing. This is a powerful indicator on the health of our faith and relationship with God.

Are we glad to serve the Lord? Is our service to the Lord centered on him and his will, or is it centered on what we want to satisfy our own interests?

When we come into his presence, is there a song in our heart? Is there a drive in us to express our joy in the Lord’s company?

In obedient service to the Lord, we must demonstrate genuine gladness. Our work is our worship. We do everything as unto the Lord. Otherwise our activity loses its impact and our praise and prayer go stale.

3. Know that the Lord is God

Psalm 100:3 ESV

3 Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

To be grateful we need to have an unwavering confidence in God!

God made us - he created us in his image.

We belong to God - we are under his rule and authority (otherwise we are in rebellion).

We are his people - this speaks of relationship and family.

We are his sheep of his pasture - he is the Good Shepherd who provides, guides, and protects.

Confident knowing that God is God, the only God, the creator and shepherd, empowers our mind and our heart to worship and express gratitude.

Transition

Psalm 100:4 ESV

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!

4. Enter His presence, Give Thanks, and Bless His Name

So, we are given an invitation to enter God’s presence. Ultimately, this point to heaven.

Not so to those who rejected him.

Revelation 21:27 ESV

27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

But for those who have been redeemed—set free through God’s grace, embraced fully by our faith in Jesus—the gates have been thrown open.

Friends, this is not the outer courts but the Holy of Holies itself—open to us “by the new and living way.”

And, in his presence how can we not but give him the highest thanksgiving and the highest praise, and bless his holy name!

Conclusion

Why? How can this be?

Psalm 100:5 ESV

5 For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

God is good. Everything God does is good.

God’s love endures. God’s love is pure and never ends.

God is faithful. What God says he will do. He is the God of promise!

Altar Call

Adam and Eve failed to appreciate all that God had done for them? Did they not grasp the heart of worship and thanksgiving?

And, as a result, they failed to worship him and be grateful for all that he had done.

It is easy for us to fall into the mindset. We think life is just about us and our comfort. And, we lose sight of God’s grace and majesty.

But God has not forgotten you.

Revelation 3:20 ESV

20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.

Communion

Worship

“10,000 Reasons”

Notes

https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2019/11/ungratefulness-as-the-root-of-sin/