The Truth about Thanksgiving
Notes
Transcript
Psalm 103:1-5
A local Chamber of Commerce invited a local pastor to offer the blessing at a banquet that set to honor local elected officials. The master of ceremonies in the fluster of the program forgot to call for the prayer and didn’t discover the mistake until the meal was nearly over. He was embarrassed but asked the preacher if he would pray anyhow. The pastor rose and said, “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me! Amen!”
I have often used that line when somehow we forget to pray, or someone begins to eat off their plate before the prayer.
Bless all that is within us.
But of course that is not the meaning of the quote here.
For thousands of years people have quoted this line, but it is difficult to come to grips with one fundamental question.
How can a person bless God?
It is very easy to see how Jesus blesses us, it is easy to see the crowd gathered around Him and be blessed by the food he provides, the healing he provides, but how do we bless Him?
It is easy to see how God blessed David, but how could David bless God?
David answers the question in the next phrase:
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all his benefits:
A person blesses God by remembering all that God has don and to expressing thanksgiving to him for it.
God blesses us with the multitude of gifts that He gives us, but His people bless God by their gratitude.
But Thanksgiving that blesses God must truly be with the whole heart.
David called for “all” within him to remember “all” his benefits.
Spurgeon said, “God’s all cannot be praised with less than our all.”
So David turns and describes just some of those benefits this morning, and I think we can easily identify with them!
I. Forgiveness
I. Forgiveness
3 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;
David surely needed forgiveness!
He wasn’t perfect anyways, but we all know how a foolish decision to not be where he was supposed to be led to his seeing something he should not have looked upon.
This led to his temptation to take that which did not belong to him.
Which led to evidence of his sin.
Instead of confessing, he did what so many of us are tempted to do, cover the sin up.
So he conspired to take a life, that he had no right to take.
Now a man of God stands before him, pointing a finger right at him, and he is found out…lust, adultery, lying, murder.
But he runs to God for forgiveness, and he finds it.
It wasn’t without cost, he still paid dearly for his sin.
But he found forgiveness.
Oh how can we relate to David’s situation, it may not be adultery or murder…but the sin still weighed just as heavily upon our heart.
Do you remember the hot tears that ran down your cheeks as you begged God for forgiveness.
Do you remember the shame that you felt, and the hope that no one would see what you had done.
You can’t take it back, you can’t fix it, all you can do is seek God’s forgiveness.
When David sought forgiveness he found it, and so have we.
How can we not, with our whole heart, Thank God for His forgiveness?
Not long before she died, secular humanist Marghanita Laski said, “What I envy most about you Christians is forgiveness. I have nobody to forgive me!”
But you do have someone to forgive you!
He has forgiven you!
You only need to accept His forgiveness!
Later in this chapter, David said
8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy.
9 He will not always chide: Neither will he keep his anger for ever.
10 He hath not dealt with us after our sins; Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heaven is high above the earth, So great is his mercy toward them that fear him.
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far hath he removed our transgressions from us.
So much to be thankful for!
Let us never forget!
Let us be thankful for Forgiveness…but also for His
II. Healing
II. Healing
3 ...Who healeth all thy diseases;
It is the Lord who heals all our diseases.
It is very important for our spirit of gratitude to realize that everything that is good comes from God.
17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
There is no good in this sin soaked world that is not from God.
Any healing that we receive is from God.
Whether by means of wisdom given to a doctor.
or knowledge given to a researcher to discover a cure,
or plant created that gives us the needed ingredient in a medicine.
all healing comes from God.
There is no healing that is not divine!
More than four hundred years ago a French doctor, Ambroise Pare, confessed, “I dress the wounds but God heals them.”
If a person takes a Tylenol and their head stops aching…it is God who did that!
The Atheist and the Agnostic chuckle and chide at this truth, but it does not change it’s validity!
We could have been dead long ago from any type of ailment, whether flu, measles, mumps, heart attack, cancer, dengue fever, malaria, or any one of a thousand other medical reasons, but whether through His advancing us medically, or His direct protection or healing, we are here today.
This is nothing compared to the ailments of the heart and mind.
How many are struggling with mental disorders, or heart aches and bitterness because they have not given them to God.
Psychology Today magazine article in 2015 gave 7 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Gratitude.
Opens the door to more relationships, a 2014 sutdy on Emotions revealed that thanking individuals, from strangers to colleagues, enhances the potential for ongoing connections and new opportunities.
Gratitude improves physical health. 2012 study showed grateful people had fewer aches and pains, and feel healthier.
Gratitude improves psychological health - it reduces a multitude of toxic emotions.
Gratitude enhances empathy and reduces aggression.
Grateful people sleep better - a 2011 study discovered that just jotting down 15 minutes of grateful sentiments before bed will allow you to sleep better and longer.
Gratitude improves self-esteem - a 2014 study found that gratitude improved athletes’ self-esteem, and helped optimal performance.
Gratitude increases mental strength - It reduces stress, but also helps play a major role in overcoming trauma. 2006 study on PTSD showed a huge connection between gratitude and lower rates of post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans.
This is the World, and lost psychologists recognizing the benefits of gratitude.
How much more should we pay attention.
Our healing comes from a loving Father!
Later in this Psalm David says,
13 Like as a father pitieth his children, So the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
14 For he knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are as grass: As a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
16 For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; And the place thereof shall know it no more.
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, And his righteousness unto children’s children;
Thankful for our Forgiveness
Thankful for our healing
Thankful for our...
III. Protection
III. Protection
4a Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;
The picture here from David is not a restoration from destruction, but a protection from it!
How many times could we have been killed, or injured, or seriously harmed had God not protected us!
We were driving back from Frankenmuth with my brother’s family.
They were in his car, and Emma rode with them, and we followed behind him.
We stopped time and again at a four way stop, but there was one intersection where the cross traffic did not stop, but my brother didn’t see that, as he pulled off with my baby in his car I saw cars coming at him from both sides.
When he saw it he stopped in the middle of the lane, and cars veered on both sides of him and missed him.
There were some guardian angels quitting that day!
I could tell story after story, as I’m sure we all could.
From David’s earliest days, he had been a child that was under the protection of God.
Even as lad, he killed a lion and a bear - I know Daniel Boon killed a Bar when he was only three…but there is a little exaggeration in there!
But David gave credit to God for his deliverance, as we read last week when he talked to King Saul about fighting Goliath.
37 David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.
Time and again, God rescued and protected him from his enemies, whether it be a jealous king, or an invading army.
It is no wonder that David can say that God is the one who has redeemed him from destruction.
We need to be thankfully aware of how God has protected us!
Thankful for His forgiveness
Thankful for His healing
Thankful for His protection
Thankful for His....
IV. Love
IV. Love
4b Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;
The Hebrew word for “Crown” comes from a root that means “to circle, to surround, or to hem in.”
David blessed God by praising and thanking Him for His all-encompassing love.
God’s love is all encompassing!
There is no where we can go where His love is not already there!
We cannot run far enough away from God where His love is not waiting right there for us to come back to Him.
His mercy is always available.
later in this chapter David wrote, Psalm 103.17
17 But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, And his righteousness unto children’s children;
A farmer once mounted a weather vane on his barn with the words “God is love” painted on it. One of his neighbors asked him, “Do you mean that God’s love is as changeable as the wind?”
Oh, no,” said the farmer. “It means that God is love no matter which way the wind blows!”
if the wind blows fair, God is love!
If the wind blows foul, God is love!
If the wind does not blow at all, God is love!
Let us never forget to thank Him for His love!
V. Satisfaction
V. Satisfaction
5a Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things
He not only provides us what he needs, but he provides enough for us to be satisfied!
He provides our daily bread, all that we need so that we may be fed, but he provides much more than just groceries (and believe me I could tell you story after story of how God provides groceries!)
But God’s provisions satisfy the longing of the soul, not just the stomach.
God fills every longing and deepest desire, if we allow Him to!
This world knows nothing of real satisfaction, just as they leave from consuming the things of this world, they are hungry for more.
The desires of the flesh can never satisfied by sinful fulfillment.
It’s the reason the rock musician moans out, “ I can’t get no satisfaction.”
Why?
Because the emptiness inside is God-shaped, and only God can fill it.
Augustine said, “Thou hast made us for thyself and our hearts find no rest until they rest in Thee!”
Or as the hymn writer said,
All my life long I had panted
For a draught from some cool spring,
That I hoped would quench the burning
Of the thirst I felt within.
Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings;
Through His life I now am saved.
Only Jesus can satisfy your soul!
We thank Him for His Forgiveness
We thank Him for His healing
We thank Him for His Protection
We thank Him for His Love
We Thank Him for His Satisfaction, that only He can bring.
And then lastly, We thank Him for His
VI. Strengthening
VI. Strengthening
5b So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
reminiscent of Isaiah 40:31
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings as eagles; They shall run, and not be weary; And they shall walk, and not faint.
The strength that God gives us helps us never tire, or quit.
When our strength fades, and our vigor disappears God gives us the life and vitality to keep going on.
There are times when we feel we cannot go any further…but it is not true!
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: Be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; Yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
It may be difficult, the road that we are on, it may be lonely, but God will give us what we need to keep going!
Let it never become a cliche in our lives, that God’s Word says that ...
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Don’t give up!
Don’t ever surrender to this world, your flesh or the devil..thinking you cannot make it - God will give you what you need…but you must seek Him!
Conclusion
Conclusion
How can we, just humans, ever be able to bless the God of all ages?
It’s easy to see how God blesses us, but how can we bless Him?
David tells us, We bless God by remembering all the amazing things that he has done and by responding with a heart of thanksgiving!
If you know Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have been forgiven!
The worst thing that you have ever done, is under the blood of Christ, along with every other sin.
God has forgiven us, have you recently expressed gratitude for this?
All healing comes from the Lord!
Did you thank the Lord for His help as you took that last aspirin?
God’s protection is all around us…oh, yes, bad things still happen to good people, but are we aware of all that God has protected us from?
And have we expressed our gratitude for it?
The Love of God is more vast than we can ever imagine…He loves us even when we were yet sinners, there in the pit of our sin.
And he loves us even when we are in the height of our hypocrisies.
He is always love.
Have we humbled ourselves and thanked Him for his loving kindness, and mercy?
Have we expressed our gratitude for the satisfaction that only He can bring?
Our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.
Have we thanked the Lord for the Strength that He gives us every day?
God renews our strength allowing us to keep running.
In the hustle of this life, let’s not find ourselves forgetting to bless God!
Gratitude is the key, and the benefits of it are innumerable.
As we come through this season of Thanksgiving, let’s carry it with us throughout the rest of the year, and on in to 2024!
There is a small village nestled in the hills, where a wise old man lived. Every year, the villagers would gather to express their gratitude for the harvest. One year, a young man approached the wise elder and asked, "How can we truly show our thanksgiving?" The old man handed him a small basket and said, "Go through the village and find something from each person that represents their thankfulness."
Excited, the young man went from house to house. He collected a handmade quilt from a grandmother, a basket of freshly baked bread from a baker, a sketch from a young artist, and even a jar of honey from a beekeeper. As he returned to the wise elder, he marveled at the diverse expressions of gratitude.
The wise elder nodded, explaining, "True thanksgiving is a tapestry woven from the threads of individual gratitude. Each person contributes something unique, and together, it creates a beautiful picture of the community's appreciation."
As we go into Thanksgiving, let us not loose site of the fact that thanksgiving isn't just a personal act but a communal one, where each person's contribution, no matter how small, enriches the collective spirit of gratitude.
I hope you will join us for our Thanksgiving and praise service this Wednesday evening.
Come prepared to give testimony, if you can, to what God has done for you!