Thanksgiving and Praise

“Come Before the Lord With Praise and Thanksgiving”

Psalm 100

Introduction

· Video

· Prayer

· Take a moment and think of all the things you are thankful for

· Psalm 100 – Psalm of thanksgiving and praise

Main Text

Psalm 100

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

2 Worship the Lordwith gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

3 Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Exegesis

· Psalm is a call to come before the Lord in worship, praise, and thanksgiving

· All because of the steadfast love and faithfulness He shows us

· Psalm written in a simple way to understand and apply

VS 1-2 + 4

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

2Worship the Lord with gladness;

come before him with joyful songs.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

· Notice how specific and intense the words are

· Our proper response to VS 3 + 5

VS 3 + 5

· The Lord’s relationship to His people

3 Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his;

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

VS 3a

· Know there is only 1 true Triune God – Father, Son, Spirit

· I would take it 1 step further – “Know God personally”

· Know His character, His works, and His unfailing promises as revealed in Scripture

· Knowing and having a personal relationship with the all powerful God should lead us to:

o Love Him

o Thank and praise Him

o Obey Him

o Have faith in Him

VS 3 goes on to say:

· God not only created us, but made us His people – He calls us His own

· We are His sheep and Jesus is our Great Shepherd who guides us, loves us, protects us, and provides for us

· He chose us, we did not choose Him

· He loved us 1st, we did not love Him

VS 5

· The foundation/crux of the Psalm – What the Psalm centers on

· The foundation or reason for our Joy and the foundation or reason for our praise and thanksgiving is his enduring character of goodness, gracious love, and faithfulness He pours into us

Exodus 34:6 goes into even more detail

“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.

· The focus is not on what we do, but who God is and what He’s done

· In fact, this is the way we should live our lives as disciples of Jesus

Conclusion/Application

· This Psalm gives us 7 commands to follow based on the love God has shown us through Jesus – Gospel message

o Shout for joy to the Lord

o Worship the Lord with gladness;

o Come before Him with joyful songs.

o Enter His gates with thanksgiving

o Enter His courts with praise;

o Give thanks to Him and praise His name.

o Know that the Lord is God.

· Enter His gates – courts – The Temple

Let’s talk about the challenges we can face when praising and thanking God in our everyday lives

When things are going well:

· Sometimes easy to give praise and thanksgiving to God

· Sometimes hard because we can tend to put God in your back pocket until you need Him

When we face hardships:

· Sometimes easy to give praise and thanksgiving to God

o For those who have made it a practice to turn to God in these times – Who have experienced how God has carried them through these times in the past

o Easy for those who practice faith and trust in God

o Those who know they are completely dependent and reliant on God

o “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle” is a lie

o He gives us more than we can handle so we can turn to Him in faith and trust – Dependent and reliant on Him

· Sometimes it is very hard – Hard times

o When we get wrapped up in fear, worry, and anxiety because of our situation

o We can tend to forget about God’s steadfast love for us

o Fear and Faith is almost impossible to experience at the same time

3 Exercises to do this week

· As you do these exercises, keep in the forefront of your mind VS 5

5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

his faithfulness continues through all generations.

1st - Write down all the things you are thankful for

· Are you thankful for the earthly treasures or for the One who gave them to you?

o For example – Our children

James 1:16-17

16 Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights.

· All of what we have belongs to God – We are just good stewards of them

· Who or what we are thankful for shows our priorities – God or material things

o Valuing earthly materials above God is idolatry

2nd- Write down a hardship you’ve gone through

· Then write down how God showed Himself to get you through it

· How He showed His faithfulness, goodness, and steadfast love to you

· This can help prepare you to immediately Go to Jesus in times of hardship

3rd - Write down ways you can thank God through action – Ways to worship and praise Him

· Example – How we live as a body of believers – the Church

Let’s finish in VS 4

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving

and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

· Context is our life here on Earth

· But it is also what we will be doing in eternity

· Close your eyes and paint a picture in your head

Revelation 7:9-12

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”