Thanksgiving

Where does thanksgiving lead our hearts?

I’m sure some of you have already started on your Thanksgiving shopping lists. Others of you will hope there is still a turkey at the store on Wednesday. But either way I’m sure most of us are excited to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families. And when we think of Thanksgiving there are things that start to pop-up in our minds. The turkey, green been casserole, pie, family members, football, whatever it is. When we think of those things we start to get excited even without the presence of those things in front of us, in fact our joy comes from the nostalgia, the memories we have with family, and the significance of each of those things to us outside of just being some dry turkey or canned cranberry sauce that still is in the shape of the can. Our thanks towards those things is two dimensional. Not just the thing itself that we are thankful for but what it represents.

Often when we think of the idea of giving thanks we think about something we received, a person in our life, a wonderful adventure we had. It is one-dimensional in its scope, we don’t look past that one specific thing. But today in Psalm 100 we are pushed to think not just two-dimension-ally in our thanksgiving but even three-dimension-ally. To ask the question, “where does thanksgiving lead our hearts? Is it simply FOR the thing that we have received, or to consider why we are thankful that we have received it? But then also to consider, if we have received it then who is the one who has given it to us? One-dimensional thanksgiving will always leave us wanting more because at some point we will lose “joy” over the thing that we have received. It loses its luster or its beauty, we gain an appetite for something different, we see what someone else has and we now are no longer thankful but envious. Psalm 100 shows us how to look at the bigger picture. It reveals to us that thanksgiving should lead us to God’s character, and God’s character should lead us to thanksgiving. Notice I said “should” because our thanksgiving can lead us to many other things that stop short of God’s character. But I hope we can see just how importance it is for our hearts to follow through in our thanksgiving journey. Because we also see that thanksgiving will lead us to serve and worship God joyfully and God’s character will lead us to peace in what He has given us. So let’s read it together.

Psalm 100 can be split into two sort of refrains that reveal to us this pattern of thankfulness. The first being v. 1-3 and the second being v. 4-5. It could almost be seen as an earthly view of thanksgiving and a heavenly view of thanksgiving. But I think it is better to see it as thanksgiving from a distance and thanksgiving from up close. The first revealing to us thanksgiving from God’s creation, how we are to give thanks to God in our day-to-day lives, and how God reveals His character through His care for His people. The second revealing to us how entering God’s presence leads us to thanksgiving, how we are to give thanks in our worship, and how God reveals His character through His loving faithfulness.

Thanksgiving will lead us to praise God joyfully

We praise God by serving Him

Verse 1 tells us and the whole earth to shout triumphantly! Many of us have heard it “sing a joyful noise to the Lord!” It is a call for all of creation to give thanksgiving to the one who had created. The rocks, the plants, the animals, all people. Everything that God has created singing. And in doing so reveals that all the world is His. Because the world that is praising Him is the creation of His hands. One small note. It does not say a beautiful noise, just a joyful noise! But they are not just singing just to sing, they are shouting like a nation who see’s a triumphant king coming back from battle. It is a celebration that the one they are singing to has acted on their behalf and protected them and it is not themselves that had to protect.

This Psalm calls us to thank God for what He will do but also what He has already done. To thank Him for the process but also the result. The first part “serve the Lord with gladness, come before him with joyful songs”. It is recognizing what God will be doing with your work and praising Him for what He will do in your future. While entering into His gates with thanksgiving is thanking Him for what He has completed for you and entering His courts with praise is praising Him for His presence you get to presently enjoy.

It reminds us of our week, we serve God with gladness in our day to day. As we see all God has done for us throughout our week, to be amazed at the works of His hands. Then at the end of our week we enter God’s presence as we gather together. But we don't just want to slumber walk into His presence, we want to run into His presence with thanksgiving and praise because we don't even know where we should begin with the worship that He is due.

We praise by entering His presence

In verse 4 there is another call to thanksgiving and praise. It calls us to enter His gates and further more into His courts. It brings us closer and closer to God’s presence. To the outer gates and into the inner courts of God’s presence. The writer of the Psalms is probably thinking of the city of Jerusalem where there was the outer gates of Jerusalem, and to enter into this city for this people was to enter into the protection and blessing of the Lord. Then you go to the tabernacle where you have the courts of the Lord, not yet in the presence of the Lord but still where God’s presence dwells.

This verse ends "give thanks to Him and bless His name." Because this is what we do once we enter His presence. We can never give God enough thanks. No amount of money, no amount of time, no amount of prayer could ever be enough to cover our debt. Therefore, our thanksgiving should be never-ending, because we could go our whole life and still not speak of all the ways we should give thanks. And want to bless His name through our own words and actions.

We enter into the place He has prepared for us and we are filled with awe as we see this wonderful place. As we see all God has done for us throughout our week, as we continue to be amazed at the works of His hands, by the time we get to the end of our week we don't just want to slumber walk into His presence but we want to run into His presence with praise because we don't even know where we should begin with the worship that He is due.

This picture of His courts also reminds us of those who were unable to enter into His presence because they were unclean. Who had not offered their sacrifices to God, who had not committed themselves to God alone. His courts were a danger to those were unholy. But read what Hebrews 13:12-18 says.

Hebrews 13:12-18 “Therefore, Jesus also suffered outside the gate, so that he might sanctify the people by his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace. For we do not have an enduring city here; instead, we seek the one to come. Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name. Don’t neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices. Obey your leaders and submit to them, since they keep watch over your souls as those who will give an account, so that they can do this with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. Pray for us, for we are convinced that we have a clear conscience, wanting to conduct ourselves honorably in everything.”

Now we come into God’s presence we no longer have to fear this same form of punishment. We don’t have to worry we are stopped at the gates because Christ has revealed to us something better where we are sanctified not by the blood of animals but by His blood so that we might be able to enter God’s presence. In the OT only the high priest could enter God’s presence once a year, but now we have the Spirit of God living in us and interceding on our behalf to the Father. And so we can enter His gates whenever we want.

Charles Spurgeon puts it this way. “We enter His gates not as fugitives trying to hide but as citizens who have received mercy for our past crimes. So as we enter we give thanks. So long as we are receivers of mercy we must be givers of thanks."

But this passage also shows us that to offer up our praise to God means that we do what is good, obey our leaders, and conduct ourselves honorably.

Thanksgiving brings us to trust God in our day-to-day lives

The Psalmist reveals to us that our worship to God is not just basic singing and prayer. It also goes into our labor, our day-to-day lives. To “serve” here is a word speaking of expending our energy, of being tired. It can be used to describe cultivating and plowing land. I think our people who serve at the Lord’s miracle acre can describe this type of service to the Lord. I’ve been there many Saturday’s and I have done some tough weeding with a wheel hoe. Or pulled up roots of plants to allow the soil to be used again. It is tiring stuff. But it is also worship as we serve our community for the Lord. And you know what, I don’t think I have seen one angry face at the miracle acre. It is people serving the Lord with gladness, laughter, and joy. But it isn’t just a call to serve God when it is part of a church function, but in the jobs we have, in the classes we take, in the yard work at our houses, in the coaching for a kids little league team. To play our part that God has for us in creation.

This is a call to the whole earth to serve the Lord. For each creature and plant and rock to do what God has called them to. A deer does not act like a shark, a bear does not act like a bird. They are not upset at the role God has given them. That would change the ecosystem of God’s creation, each is functioning an important role that the other cannot perform. We are not to change who are, to pretend to be somebody else, to be unsettled in our jobs or with our family. Wherever God has put us now we serve Him. Not just when we get our way, or when it benefits us. We serve Him because He is worthy of being serve. The world has taught us to not be happy with how God has made us, or to do what “makes us feel good” even if it hurts those around us. It teaches us to hold onto bitterness, and to grumble when things are hard. Our world doesn’t serve the Lord with gladness but rather serves themselves with temporary happiness. But God has called us to eternal joy in Him, He has revealed to temporary suffering will be overcome by the thanksgiving we will experience in His presence.

As Romans 12:1 reminds us,

Romans 12:1 “Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.”

Our worship and service to God goes all the way to offering ourselves as a "living sacrifice". There is no separation between our worship and our work, they are intertwined. If we have regular habits of worship than we will also have regular habits of service to God. Where our worship is stale so is our service to Him, and vice versa.

When we worship God as we come together it gives us the reminder of how good God has been to us and what He has done. Then as we go out into our week we have a built in thankfulness for even the smallest things that He gives us. And as we end our week we get to look back with joy as we enter into His presence again. It is a cycle of service and worship. And as we continue this cycle it leads us to God’s character. And God’s character will lead us to peace in what He has given us.

God’s character will lead us to peace in what He has given us.

When you apply for a job you tend to embellish some of the accomplishments in your life in order to make yourself more appealing. You put "top 10 in graduating class" when there were only 10 kids graduating in total. You put "willing to give input in a team" when you mean "I never shut my mouth". When embellishing so that we might receive acceptance that we don't think that we will get with our genuine accomplishments, we have to build ourselves up more than we are due. But we have no reason to do that with God. We don't have to embellish our God so that others think better of Him than He is. we don't have to put Him in a better light so that we can convince ourselves He is worthy of serving. His holy character speaks for itself.

Psalm 100 reveals the perfect character of God to us in at least 5 ways (and we could very easily find more).

God’s character

The Lord is God

V. 3 tells us to “acknowledge” or “know” that the Lord is God. That is, to discern or grow to understand. Here we see it is a response to our thanksgiving. He is the source of our worship, the one who we are glad to serve. It also tells us that our worship should not be lacking depth in regards to God’s character. Worship brings us to recognition of His character as we contemplate who He has shown us to be in our lives. Compassionate, loving, faithful, holy, our helper. I could continue on. Worship forces away from our functional atheism where we trust ourselves and other things over him and helps remember daily, even hourly that He alone is God.

To acknowledge the Lord is to also take honor away from ourselves. To give all the glory to God when we so easily want to give ourselves credit for the blessings in our lives. But not even ourselves, we would much rather give blind luck or randomness credit than for God to give the credit. All of us find ourselves superstition in one way or another. Whether it is what we wear when our favorite team is playing, “knocking on wood” as if us speaking something out loud will change the future outcome of something, or scared that because we have done something bad that we will be bit by “karma”. But this says “acknowledge that the Lord is God”. It is in essence saying “no one else deserves credit”.

The Lord is our Creator

We are His people! Because as our creator He knows us, He understands our thoughts, He is always present with us. We can't escape His presence. As Psalm 139 tells us. But He didn't just make us with little thought or effort. He didn't just throw us together with scraps. We are fearfully and wondrously made. But we are not just made by God but we are His people, those He cares about. He knows every one of our days, and He made us for a purpose. To give him glory. God cares deeply for us as His children, He cares for us in ways we don’t even notice.

The Lord is our Shepherd

He cares for us as a shepherd cares for His sheep. It is in His character to guard us, to lead us on the right path, and to provide for our needs. He doesn’t just say “here is a map and some money, go figure it out.” But He carefully shows us the path of righteousness and leads us to Himself, to good places. He guards us against danger, He desires to satisfy our inner longings.

To acknowledge Him as God is to recognize He is the one who can truly protect and guide us, that He can satisfy our inner longings.

The Lord is good

But the wonderful news that v. 5 tells us is that the Lord our God is good, truly. It would be terrifying news if the Lord over all things was not good.

I’m sure many of you have watched Toy Story. In Toy Story there is one child named Sid. And Sid has many toys that he makes into his own creation. But he is not a benevolent creator, he creates for his own amusement, he is not thinking about the one he is creating. He is a bad-faith creator. But out is perfectly good, He can be nothing but good. In His judgment, in His discipline, in His creation, in His mercy…He is good. And He is not just good but He is also has faithful love and faithful mercy towards us.

The Lord’s faithful love endures forever

We could spend an entire day looking at this one. This is a phrase used in no less then 6 different Psalms, and in those Psalms repeated over and over again. Continuing to come back and remind us of His faithful love.

God's faithful love is the song that we sing in our hearts. It is a song that the Psalms sing time and time again.

God does not turn back or forget His promise, He doesn't alter or change.

If God did change it would be terrifying. It would mean that His standard for goodness changes, that we couldn't fully know His character if it proves to be different now than it was before. We would have no solid footing to stand on.

The word for “faithful love” can be translated “love” or mercy”. It tells us of the type of care we would find from a close family member, who is there in the hard moments and the good moments. But God’s faithful love is even more trustworthy than any family member. As the Jesus Storybook Bible says it. It is a never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love.

It isn’t an up and down love. Not a love that changes as we follow Him more and less. It isn’t an insecure love. It is a covenantal love for the ones He cares about regardless of our actions, He doesn’t grow bitter towards us, His emotion towards us doesn’t change. He will be faithful even when we aren’t.

And in the moments in our life where it is hard to remember that. When we deal with difficulties in our life. We face a challenge, we deal with sickness, we lost a job, someone close to us has passed away, or we just feel lost. At that moments, when we understandably question God, we wonder "how can this God who allows this to happen to me be good?" We remember that His faithful love has endured from generation to generation, even to those who may have not seen the completeness of His faithfulness as it tells us in Hebrews 11:35-40

Hebrews 11:35–40 CSB

Women received their dead, raised to life again. Other people were tortured, not accepting release, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Others experienced mockings and scourgings, as well as bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by the sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, destitute, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and on mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground. All these were approved through their faith, but they did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.

God’s faithful love brings us people as it reminds us through any circumstance that He is with us and He cares for us.

Christ calls us to thanksgiving for what He has done and thanksgiving leads us to His good character

This Psalm calls us into the presence of God to give Him the glory and praise that He deserves. Because He is our God, He has created us, He has cared for us as a shepherd, and He has and will be faithful to protect those whom He loves.

2 Corinthians 9:11-15 “You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone. And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”