Sermon Tone Analysis

How Can I Say Thanks At Anniversary Time? 2

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/.

Humanity, believers, and especially African-American believers need celebration.

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 the Morning Star 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.

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!!

 

(Before we can answer this question, 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.

The “why” of his worship, praise, and thanksgiving is seen in the psalm.

In this 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 specific reasons for his thanksgiving that he arrives at the question before us:

 

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

 

\\ /(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 (NASB-U), “A Psalm of David.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits; who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases; who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

/(We had better take some time and look at:)/

 

I.

The Benefits Of Serving The Lord (Psalm 103:1-5).

Here we have an exhortation to bless the Lord, by the sweet hymnist of Israel, David.

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 Jehovah, i.e.

Yahweh.

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!!!

*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, yet He daily loads us with benefits.*

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

David summarizes these benefits that come from God, in five statements that he seems to address to the Israelites.

These five statements seem to represent five categories of benefits for Israel, which represent five categories of benefits that are ours through Jesus Christ, which are mediated through the local church or body of Jesus Christ.

There are certainly God-given benefits that only eternity can unfold.

Seeing them all is like trying to count the stars.

The greater the power of our telescope, the more innumerable the stars appear.

But we will *not* let our limited comprehension keep us from gazing upon the wonder of His benefits.

/(Let’s review these categories of benefits.

First:)/

 

1.

He Pardons All Of Our Iniquities.

*He has given us the marvelous benefit of forgiveness.*

Because of the death of Jesus Christ, God remits our punishment and restores us to His favor.

Psalm 103:12 (NASB-U), “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

 

Isaiah 38:17 (NASB-U), “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; it is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, *For You have cast all my sins behind Your back*” (/Emphasis mine/).

Micah 7:19 (NASB-U), “He will again have compassion on us; *He will tread our iniquities under foot*.

*Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea*” (/Emphasis mine/).

God forgives us of all our sins¾past, present, and future—with respect to salvation!

What a blessing it is to know that our sins are forgiven.

We were guilty of high treason against the King of kings and Lord of lords, but He took our place and experienced the sentence of death on our behalf.

Then He gave us a full and complete pardon and made us just as if we had never sinned, or ever done anything wrong.

Because of our Lawyer and Lamb, Jehovah God drops the charges, so that nothing can prevent us from going to heaven!

The gift of forgiveness is so great, that sometimes I want to thunder at the top of my voice:  “Forgiven!”