Giving Thanks as a Part of our Worship Sept 02 07
Giving Thanks as a Part of our Worship
Sunday, September 02, 2007
Introduction: We have been spending the last many Sundays together in a study of the Psalms. The Psalms are written for us so that we might look at real people who struggle with life and who have learned to sing in the midst of all circumstances—who have learned to give thanks to the Lord in all circumstances. In fact the Apostle Paul the writer of most of the New Testament echoes the same refrain as he tell us in 1 Thessalonians, “….give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thessalonians 5:18, ESV) So often we define worship as singing songs in church—but this is such a small part of worship—but it is a vital part too—because as we sing songs here—together—we are learning melodies, tunes, and words, that will help us in our daily lives as we take those tunes, and words from what we sing here and incorporate them in to our everyday moments and situations in everyday living. We are going to look at Psalm 66 today. I am struck by the simplicity and grit of this Psalm and song—it is introduced to us very simple as follows--To the choirmaster! A Song! A Psalm! Just like last week as we studied Psalms 42 and 43 which were teaching Psalms—66 is also a teaching psalm—song set to music to teach us that God is always, always, working redemptivley on our behalf. God is with us—no matter who is against us—no matter what circumstances that we may find our selves in as we are living life daily—God is with us! The author of the Psalm—we are not told who—incorporates worship into all that he does. He begins the Psalm by reminding “all the earth” about the goodness of the Lord. It is important to remember in times of personal testing, personal hardship, that God is not only working redemptivley to deliver us, but He is working redemptivley to save all who are on the earth. Although God through Jesus our Lord is a personal savior, He is first and foremost a universal savior—Jesus came to redeem all mankind—and Jesus came also to redeem me personally. The psalmist recognizes the universal ness of redemption—it is not enough for just you and me to give God thank—giving God thanks needs to be a universal expression—on the lips of all people—everywhere. With that in mind, let’s looks at the first 12 verses of Psalm 66 “Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise! Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies come cringing to you. All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah Bless our God, O peoples; let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip. For you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver is tried. You brought us into the net; you laid a crushing burden on our backs; you let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; yet you have brought us out to a place of abundance” I love that last line, don’t you? “You have brought us OUT to a place of ABUNDANCE.” God is working everywhere, on everyone—even the enemies of the Lord will know that He is in control—no one or nothing can stop what God is doing in the earth. This is so important for us to remember, for you and I tend to become egocentric people—we see only what is going on with us—this too is a universal condition—sin blinds us to God and what he is doing, to others, and finally to ourselves. God’s purpose in praise is to open us up, tune us into what He is doing. The great strength of any nation who recognizes God as the redeemer of all mankind is that we know that He is in control of our destiny—as a nation. A nation who forgets that will fall. We, as God’s people must remind the nation that He is redemptive, He saves, and He controls our destiny. We are to remind those around us of this fact—God is in control—we are not to panic and lose hope when things go bad—no matter what those things might be—gas prices do not control our lives, God is in control—we have something to give thanks about. We speak to others about God’s goodness, His redemptiveness, we too, then need to speak to ourselves (just as we did in Psalms 42 and 43). Notice how the psalmist begins verse 13 and goes through verse 16, “I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble. I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats. Selah” Notice that this is a very personal moment with the Lord—it is just the psalmist and the Lord—he speaks directly to God in this section. Thanksgiving is universal—but it also very, very personal. Those times when we are in the deepest of trouble and we cry out to God—asking Him to recognize our situation, asking Him to rescue us, those times when we make promise to Him for fulfilling His promises to us…… “I will perform my vows.” Those times that are between him and us! And then finally notice how the psalmist ends the psalm. He again broadens the scope of his thanksgiving—recognizing that a pure heart is critical in giving thanks—that is the motives of my heart must not be selfish, indwelt, and completely about myself! I must remember that God is working on all our behalf. My prayers must include all of what God is doing—and not just what he is doing for me. Listen to the psalmist, “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” (Psalm 66:1-20, ESV)
What is He teaching us in Psalm 66
Thanksgiving is universal—it is His will that all people give Him thanks for what he is doing in their lives. And just as importantly, it is important that each of us who belong to Him and believe in Him give thanks for what He is doing universally—that no matter what the circumstances look like worldwide—how awful the news is on any given day, we need to remember how “Awesome” He is….when it is awful, He is Awesome!
Thanksgiving is personal—His deliverance of us out of situations and circumstances need to be remembered—I must never forget that He is not only working in the lives of others, He is working in my life on a very personal level to redeem me.
Next, I need to remind those around me, that He is a personal and redeeming God, that He is attentive to my prayers, and that He will never, ever removing his steadfast love from me!
And Finally, I need to remember that praise and thanksgiving help keep my heart free from iniquity—when I am focused on him, I will not be focused on me!
I will give Him praise and thanksgiving because:
He of His
Preeminence, Power, Protection, and Purging!