Introduction

Open up your bibles with me to Psalm 103.

As you open there, lets pray. Heavenly father, we thank you for this opportunity to dive into your word this Sunday morning. Whether we come in this place with our lives going great or with heavy hearts, I hope that our time together will lift us up because we look to you for joy and peace in our lives. I want to ask specifically that the topic of gratitude would pierce our hearts in a different way this morning. May we hear your truth and believe it and form our lives around it. Thank you God! It is in your Sons name, Jesus Christ, we pray, amen.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Around this time of the year you hear a lot about being thankful, or cliches people say, and you have probably said it to yourself or to your kids this week. On facebook I asked people what are some cliches that people say or phrases that get tossed around:

“Count your blessings.”

“To stressed to be blessed”

You may be around the dinner table and someone may ask “Are the cowboys losing?” Thats a repeated phrase.

We do the tradition in our home by going around the room and share what you were thankful for that year. Just about everyone is thankful for family. Which would make it awkward if they said they weren’t.

Some more that people said was overused: “Gobble till you wobble, Happy Turkey day (Just say thanksgiving), or my favorite “Merry Christmas”. At least give it a day, you know.

As lighthearted and silly as those sayings are at think the corniest is: “have an attitude of gratitude.”Hence the title of todays message. I tried my hardest to think of something better than, Attitude of Gratitude, but nothing quite hit it on the head.

Books are written about it, and shirts are printed with the tag line. “Have an attitude of gratitude man”.

So today lets not have a bad-itude, but show gratitude.

Tension

Attitude of Gratitude

Its a cliche way of saying, have a thankful heart. And to be honest, it gets so overused that I believe we tend to steer away from this practice. Our culture says only at this certain time of the year can we be thankful and grateful for what we have. We can’t be thankful in any other season, only on thanksgiving can we show our gratitude.

A University of Berkley surveyed some people. Heres one of their key findings: A significant gratitude gap exists in America. 90% of people describe themselves as grateful for their family and 87 % are similarly grateful for their closest friends. But only 52 percent of women and 44 percent of men express gratitude on a regular basis.

Only half would say that they express gratitude on a regular basis. Having a daily habit of showing thankfulness in life shows improvement in mental health.

What if we shifted to not talking about gratitude only around thanksgiving but instead living a life of gratitude? What would happen to our lives if we started to build the habit of sharing what we are grateful for and meditating on what we have rather than what we don’t have.

My dad has this saying that he got from his granny Helen, “When you are going through life look upon the donut and not upon the hole.”

Its an odd saying but the truth is there: when we go through life look at what you have and not what you don’t have.

I have never in my life met a happy complainer. But culture has made it easy for us to grumble. Advertisements and stuff popping up left and right saying that you need this in order to be full. I have fallen for it.

Have you sat and tried to think of things your thankful for. It takes me longer to think what I am thankful for than what I am unhappy about. You might have every right to be unhappy about those circumstances but what does it do to our spirits? What gain is it for our life? If we just sit in a state of griping and nagging. It just makes us unhappy, grumpy and angry people, that no one wants to be around. Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote to “not grumble or complain so that you will be a light to the world.” And he said that in a first century prison! He later says Philippians 4:6-7

Philippians 4:8–9 ESV

8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

What is it about gratitude that changes peoples perspective in life? Why is it that happy people are thankful people? How can we show gratitude in our day to day even when our circumstances would say different?

Heres the big truth for today:

Living a life of gratitude brings glory to God.

Truth

Lets look into what scripture says about this and the reasons why we can be thankful everyday.

Psalm 103:1–5 ESV

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

David writes this Psalm of thanksgiving to God because of the benefits that he offers us and calls for his entire soul to “Bless” Him.

Charles Spurgeon said this about the psalm:

We should attribute it to his later years when he had a higher sense of the preciousness of pardon, because a keener sense of sin, than in his younger days. His clear sense of the frailty of life indicates his weaker years, as also does the very fulness of his praiseful gratitude.

Just as David had a sense of how quick life can goAs the years go on in your life you start to realize every yes and open door were great and every no and closed door was equally great.

Right out of high school I felt the need and wanted to serve in our Armed Forces. Everything checked out, got my paper work in and nothing seemed show any red flags.

I get to MEPS, where they check your mental and physical health, make sure your fit for service. You do a hearing test, eye exam, all of it. I get to the station where they have to draw a vile of blood. Now, something you should know about me is that I am extremely afraid of needles. I don’t do them. Its suppose to stay in my veins, why take it out? Well, they sit me down and I start to get clammy, straight face, and look at the guy, he gets it in my arm and sure enough I immediatley look down and witness whats taking place. It took a quick second and I get up and start to walk to the front counter to get more direction, when the room starts to spin like a carnival ride, which I didn’t know we were at the carnival, thought I was at MEPS. Next thing I know, I wake up with people surrounding me and I was like how can this happen. So embarrassing. I couldn’t go any farther that day, they sent me home and I had to come back another day.

Well, I get further news that I didn’t make the cut at that time for some medical reason, I think they knew that the military likes needles and this kid isn’t up for it.

I was frustrated that it didn’t work out the way I intended it to go. It wasn’t until a few years later that i was able say, “thank you God, for that shut door!” Overtime we can start to look back and see God working out His plan in our lives and we say thank you God!

David had his fair share of ups and downs in life as well. Going from Giant Slayer, runaway fugitive, King, adulterer and murderer, losing a child, and his son revolting against him. And yet towards the end of his age he says “Praise the LORD.” How?

Over his life he saw this: the benefits God has given him. They aren’t riches and fame and glory. Its things that we can see in our life, and this should be a great reminder to us.

That in our best of days, we can say my sould praises all of you God. Or even in our worse of days, our lowest moments we can say “Oh my sould bless Your name.”

In all circumstances, God can be praised for His benefits that He freely gives.

Here are the 5 benefits that we should daily remember to bring us to praise the One who offers them to us.

1. Forgiveness of ALL Our Sins (v.3a)

Psalm 103:3a (ESV)

3 who forgives all your iniquity,

Some one leave the best for last but I think that David wanted to start off with the best! The best and most important of the benefits is His forgiveness of our sins.

1 John 1:9 ESV

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

He forgives us of our iniquities, our wrong doings that were against Him. Either “small” or “big” they all do the same: separate us from our heavenly father.

If the only thing, at the end of the day, that we can look at in our life and be thankful for Gods forgiveness, that would be enough to give GLORY church.

But His benefits go farther!

2. Heals ALL Our Sickness (v.3b)

Psalm 103:3b (ESV)

3 who heals all your diseases,

The next benefit God gives us is healing. Another great benefit is our Gods care for our bodies. I would go farther and say this is also both physical and spiritual.

God is our physical healer. I tend to forget one of the names that our God gave himself Jehovah-Rapha Ex 15:26

Exodus 15:26b (ESV)

26 for I am the Lord, your healer.”

This is something that all believers have. Its not a select few and not something just back then. He still works today because our God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. James 5:14-15

James 5:14–15 ESV

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.

God is our spiritual healer. Playing off the first benefit, sin wounds us and is a sickness that infects every person Isaiah 64:6. Jesus came and worked miracles proving Him to be the Son of God. Yes, He physically healed people, but He also spiritually healed people as well, through the forgiveness of sins. And Peter tells us that:

1 Peter 2:24 ESV

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Its like a stained white shirt. I can never keep a white shirt clean. If you ever catch me wearing a plain white tee without a button up, check on me, I might not be feeling well. Everytime without fail, I will somehow get ketchup or something on it. I won’t even be around it, it wouldn’t even be apart of my lunch for that day, and it would somehow get there.

Taking my ketchup stained teeshirt, nothing I do with just water will get those out. I need something more powerful and more effective to get those stains out.

Our sin, no matter how big or small you think it is, stains us. And by the blood of Jesus that He shed on the cross He washes us clean of them. Making us white as snow, as if nothing happened! That is true healing. And it is a benefit that God gives us.

3. Redeems us from life of destruction (v.4a)

Psalm 103:4a (ESV)

4 who redeems your life from the pit,

Are we seeing a pattern from this? The only thing that David has been thankful to God, that he has cried to His soul to praise God for is what He has done for his sin.

Our sin put us in a spiritual tomb. That hebrew word for pit there also means grave. Where living in sin takes us is not life, but death. Eternal death, separated from God for eternity.

Colossians 1:13–14 ESV

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

He paid for us to be free. He’s redeemed us. Praise God! Taking us from that state of death and place of darkness, and brings us to His Kingdom! This is something to praise Him about church.

4. Surrounds us with faithful love and mercy (v.4b)

Psalm 103:4b (ESV)

4 who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

The God who forgives, heals, and redeems us also surrounds us in faithful, unwavering love and mercy. If anyone understood Gods love and mercy it was David.

After his sin against bathsheba and getting caught he repents to God and experiences His abundant mercy. 2 Samuel 12:13

2 Samuel 12:13 ESV

13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

Romans 5:8 ESV

8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

His love is so great for His creation that He sent Jesus down to die in our place. And even when we continue to struggle and mess up, Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient.Romans 5:20–21 “20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Where sin has abounded Gods grace abounds even more!

Gods love and mercy surrounds us in our deep darkest moments.

All of these 4 that we have talked about, forgiveness, healing, redemption, love and mercy, gives us a life that is fully satisfied. It leads us to have a…

5. Fulfills our every need with good.

Psalm 103:5 ESV

5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The last benefit that we can remember is that He satisfies us with good things so that our strength can be renewed.

The work that God has done in our lives, what He saves us from and what He has in store for us in the life to come, fills us with true life. To be full and to have plenty of good, so that we will be renewed like eagles.

This verse reminds me of Isaiah 40:30-31

Isaiah 40:30–31 ESV

30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

You might have gotten bad news, doctor found something on the report, family or marriage seems to be splitting, this year has seemed to be one thing after another, to the point where you are crying out, GOD WHERE ARE YOU IN THIS!? Where is your goodness? How can I be thankful, if I feel abandoned? I am tired.

He tells us that He satisfies, gives us plenty of good things that empowers us. We may grow weary, run low in our faith tank. But the last time I read Jesus say, that faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains.

Call to action

In all circumstances, God is worthy of praise for His benefits that He freely gives.

As the band comes up, I want to give us a moment to respond.

It might look like coming up to the altar to praise God for His faithfulness. What David meant by “Bless”, its a posture of praise, kneeling and thanking God. Maybe thats what you need to do.

Believer, don’t let the forgiveness of sins be something that we are thankful for that one time when we started our walk with the Lord. This is something that everyday will pick our day up and turn it right side up! Go from having a bad day to a good day because of the 3rd day.

Maybe you hear the words of forgiveness and redemption and never have experienced the love and mercy of God. I want to extend that invitation to you this morning. Repent and turn to Him God who gives us abundant life.

I will be right here in the front ready to pray with you if you need it!

Lets pray.