Chosing Gratitude over Griping

Why Thanksgiving?

When we “open our eyes” we can find much to be thankful for

Changing seasons

Harvest and abundance

Relative security

Sometimes we might need to look harder ...

[Aside] If we celebrate a Thanksgiving devoid of God, who are we giving thanks to?

“It is right to give our thanks and praise”

Because nothing we have could we have without him

But sometimes it’s hard to be thankful

When the doctor’s treatments don’t seem to be working

When our children make choices that grieve us and God

When family relationships are strained

When a loved one has passed away (reminder: last year)

When things are tough, why make time for a holiday to thank God?

Psalm 95 is a Psalm that speaks to the need to give thanks even when it’s hard

By calling us to Look Up and remember who God is

Calling us to Look Back and remember what God has done

And calling us to Look Forward in anticipation and hope for what God will do

Look Up

Calvin on the importance of the eyes

Eyes play a significant role in worship

Though the Psalmist doesn’t speak of using our eyes

The Psalm is full of visual images inviting us to worship God and give thanks

We look up …

… To God our Rock (stability) (v. 1)

We “shout aloud”

Illustration: U2 transitioning from Love and Peace … to Where the Streets in ‘05

Our worship involves our voices as well as our eyes!

Note what we “shout aloud”: thanksgiving

… To the God above all Gods (v. 3)

who both created and holds the world in his hands (v. 4-5)

“He’s got the whole world in his hands ...”

v.5 - “sea” = “chaos” / Therefore God is more powerful than our chaos

… To the God who created us (v. 6)

and cares for us (v. 7a)

Like a shepherd with his sheep

Emphasizing God’s guidance and care

An image throughout the Bible

Illustration: the shepherds in the streets of Cairo

Ultimately applied to Jesus

Who “laid down his life for his sheep”

Look Back

The Psalmist invites to look back at previous generations where God showed his faithfulness - even in Israel’s unfaithfulness (v. 7b-11)

The story to which the Psalmist points is in Exodus 17:1-7

The people were thirsty after days in the desert

They complained against God

God brought forth water from the rock (play on words with verse 1?)

But they had further consequences for their doubt and unbelief

A short memory undermines gratitude

This story happened not long after the Exodus!

Hence the importance of being reminded of God’s past faithfulness

Especially when He feels absent from our present

More Perfect Illustrations: For Every Topic and Occasion Thankfulness: Very Short Gripe Session

A party of pioneers on the Oregon Trail suffered for weeks from a scarcity of water and grass for their animals. Most of the wagons had broken down, causing endless delays in the stifling heat. A feeling of fretfulness and futility prevailed. Optimism and cheer were gone. Courage was in limited supply.

One night the leaders called a meeting to air complaints. When they gathered around the campfire, one man stood up and said, “Before we commence our grief session, don’t you think we should at least first thank God that he has brought us this far with no loss of life, with no serious trouble from the Indians, and that we have enough strength left to finish our journey?”

The other settlers agreed. After the brief prayer, all that could be heard were the cries of a distant pack of wolves. There was otherwise stone silence around the campfire, because no one had any grievances they felt were important enough to voice.

They suddenly realized if they couldn’t be satisfied with what they’d received, they could at least be thankful for what they’d escaped. Thankfulness enabled them to see the mercies of God they had been overlooking.

The invitation to “hear his voice” is directed towards obedience

Not about hearing but about listening (God speaks, but do we listen?)

When we are not feeling ‘thankful’ we are invited to obedience anyway

Hence, “bow down” and “kneel”

God uses the difficulties in our lives to stretch us and strengthen us

Look Forward

This tree is symbolic of those times when we feel

Stripped of things that bring us joy

Feel naked and alone in a sometimes harsh and inexplicable world

But it is also an invitation to look forward, like Psalm 95

The “barrenness” lasts for a season

In the spring, the trees will bud again - new life springs up

Psalm 95 invites us to open our eyes and look back and look up

God has proven himself faithful time and time and time again

We are invited to

trust Him even in difficulty

celebrate together (aloud) his faithfulness

And by doing so to invite others to do the same

300 Illustrations for Preachers Thankfulness Is Good for You

A 2009 study again showed that being thankful can improve your life. At the University of California, Davis, professor Robert Emmons said, “Those who offer gratitude are less envious and resentful. They sleep longer, exercise more and report a drop in blood pressure.” Emmons is the author of the book Thanks! How Practicing Gratitude Can Make You Happier, and an earlier book that describes gratitude as a “new science.” Brenda Shoshanna is a New York psychologist who agrees. “You can’t be depressed and grateful at the same time,” said Shoshanna, the author of 365 Ways to Give Thanks: One for Every Day of the Year. “It makes a person physically, mentally, in every way healthier.”

That is part of our calling as a church

Colossians 3:15–17 NIV

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Especially when we see someone struggling

When they can’t see the positive

Will I Harden My Heart? Or Bow Down in Worship?

“The conclusion of Psalm 95 is purposefully open-ended.… The poem simply ends by voicing the effect of the forefathers’ rebellion: they robbed themselves of the promised rest. The open nature of the psalm’s conclusion is quite deliberate. It invites readers to draw their own conclusion, to supply their own ending. The abrupt ending to the psalm effectively challenges the hearer to decide for herself: “Will I harden my heart, or will I bow down in worship?”” (Jamie A. Grant, Psalms, 2018, 2, 406).