Let Us Thank Him Together

Introduction:

This week we will gather together with family and celebrate Thanksgiving. We come to this season of the year and think about the first Thanksgiving with Pilgrims and Indians and giving thanks to the Lord for surviving in such a harsh environment. We also think to modern day traditions of turkey and dressing and Black Friday sales with some football mixed in.

It is safe to say that in the hustle and bustle of the week, it is easy to forget to give thanks to the Lord. Today we want to change that. I hope that this whole week, you will be intentional about focusing on giving thanks to the Lord.

We are going to turn this morning to a psalm that we studied in Bible Study this morning. When that happens, we have to realize that God must have wanted us to pay special attention to this one this morning, especially since I had already picked out the passage before I read the Sunday School lesson.

In fact, if I’m being honest with you, I did what some of you teachers may have done before. I read the wrong lesson and was moving on to the next unit. Thankfully we had Men’s Ministry on Thursday and Mark rode with us to the meeting and referenced the lesson. That was my “Uh, Oh!” moment.

Anyways, turn with me in your Bibles this morning to Psalm 100 and let’s take a look at what the Word says to us.

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.

Pray

This psalm does not come with an inscription to tell us exactly how it was used in worship besides just being a psalm of thanksgiving, but many scholars believe that the psalm was used in giving the thanksgiving offering in the Temple that is recorded in Leviticus. It is a royal psalm that recognizes and worships God as the King, not only of the Jewish people, but of all peoples.

There are several actions that are called for in this Psalm. All of them can be summed up in our worship of God our King and giving thanks to Him collectively as a people.

1. Praise the Lord (v1)

Psalm 100:1 ESV

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

We are invited into the praise chorus of the universe in praising the Lord

We have many reasons to praise the Lord

In what ways to you praise God regularly in your life?

How might intentionally praising God regularly help you to draw nearer to Him in your personal relationship with Him?

2. Serve the Lord (v.2)

Psalm 100:2 ESV

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

Service should be the natural outworking of our praise. Once we Have come together to sing and praise God, we should disperse to serve Him.

Our aim is to lead others to worship the Lord with us. We are ambassadors of the Lord.

Every one of us has a gift to use in the worship of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 12:4–6 ESV

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

Your gift is not dependent on your abilities but on your humility to let God fill you and use you. In fact, if you focus on what you can do for God rather than letting God use you as an empty vessel for His service, you will get in the way of what God wants to do through you.

Where are you currently serving in the church? Where can you begin to serve?

3. Sing to the Lord (v.2)

Psalm 100:2 ESV

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

This is one that goes hand in hand with the command to praise God and to serve God.

Singing is something that we don’t like to consider very masculine as men, but it’s really non-masculine to be a chicken when it comes to singing to God.

We will belt out our favorite songs on the radio and we don’t care who’s around.

We should sing to God because of what He’s done for us. It should come from the soul and not necessarily the harmonics. It’s great if you can carry a tune, but its also fine if you can’t.

Singing reminds us of the goodness of God. It is an act of teaching.

Do you have an aversion to singing? Is it pride that keeps you from singing to God?

4. Meditate on the Lord (v.3)

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.

It is important for us to replace our thoughts about ourselves with thoughts that God Thinks about us.

As a believer, we have a new identity in Christ.

There are several aspects of who you are that you need to meditate upon:

The Lord is God - He is Sovereign

The Lord made you - You are no accident

The Lord wants you - You belong

Start meditating with Scripture memorization. Think about the fact that God is in control of your life and what that means for you. Think about the fact that He made you and you are not an accident. Think about the fact that God wants you as a part of His family.

5. Thank the Lord (vv. 4-5)

Psalm 100:4–5 ESV

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.

The end result of all of these practices is that we develop a heart of thanksgiving.

We will want to “enter His gates” and we will want to gather to give thanks.

Conclusion

If you had been through the horrible conditions that the Pilgrims survived that first winter, you would most likely have had no problem thanking your Creator and Sustainer for His goodness to you. You wouldn’t care what people thought about you. You wouldn’t be glad to be alive.

The truth is that God has saved us from something far worse than a harsh winter. God has saved us from an eternity of separation from His presence in the fires of hell.

Today, if you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, what are you waiting for. Jesus came to this sin-cursed world and endured the cross to take the punishment that our sins had earned upon Himself. He made it possible for each person who will trust in His work on the cross to be saved. It is not what you do, but what He did.

That is a work worthy of giving thanks over. If you are a follower of Jesus this morning, I pray that you never forget what He has done for you. I pray that you never get over your salvation. Thank Him for it and let’s worship Him together today.