Sermon Tone Analysis

It is quite possible that I have used this same title before.

If I have, forgive me.

When it comes to sermon titles I have a powerful forgettor.

The summer of 1983, after my freshmen year of school at the Moody Bible Institute, I stayed on campus and worked in the janitorial department.

I remember well one occasion when I heard music being played when my partner and I were supposed to be cleaning classrooms.

So I went to investigate and found my cleaning partner playing and singing a song at one of the classroom pianos.

Carl was a Haitian national who came to MBI to prepare for ministry.

And he had picked up this catchy chorus at the African American church where he attended.

And that song is where I stole the title for today’s message from.

So much to be grateful for!

For the believer in Jesus Christ, no truer words have ever been spoken.

This week we begin a new series titled A Journey of Thankfulness.

Since we’ve come to the place in our exposition of Matthew where the author deals with the betrayal and death of Christ, it seems best to pause that study until early next year as we begin our preparations for Easter.

And so, with Thanksgiving being just around the bend I’ve prayerfully decided to study five of the eleven Psalms of Thanksgiving which are found in the Book of Psalms.

These will not be in any particular order.

And we certainly will not be able to cover all of them in the five or six weeks alloted for this study.

(As a matter of fact, next week, our friend Dave Kurowicki will be preaching for me as I will be out of town most of this week at a Church conference.)

If you have not done so already, please turn in your Bible to .

(As a side note, I will be preaching from the NKJV for this series because I love the beautiful way this translation presents the psalms).

You probably know that the Book of Psalms is the longest book in the Bible.

We often refer to it as having 150 chapters.

But the truth is that technically the book of Psalms does not have chapters.

Rather, it is made up of 150 distinct poems or songs.

There are many people whom the Holy Spirit moved to take part in writing the book of Psalms.

The most prolific was King David.

Perhaps the second most prolific writer was someone known as Anonymous?

In other words, there are many psalms of which we do not know who the human author was.

And our psalm for today is one of these.

There are many genres of psalms.

Some are referred to as hymns — these are noted by their call to praise and worship God.

Some are laments in which the author is grieved by someone or something.

Some are imprecatory in which the author calls for an enemy to be cursed.

Some are royal psalms, which refer to the king — and many of the royal psalms are also Messianic psalms, speaking the coming, future, eternal king and kingdom of Messiah.

And of course, some are songs of Thanksgiving.

Often within a psalm of thanksgiving you will also find a lament as well.

is part of what a six-psalm unit sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Hallel.

The term Hallel means praise in Hebrew.

These songs were sung at Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles, but had the greatest significance at Passover, which celebrated the Jews’ deliverance from Egypt.

Traditionally were sung before the Passover meal and afterwards.

Let’s read together.

As we meditate on this passage this morning, keep in mind that the believer in Jesus Christ should reflect on all that God has done for us in Christ Jesus, which should motivate us to express our love and thanks to Him, meditate on His perfections, and grow in our confidence of Him.

Our gratitude should cause us to express our love for God

Look with me at verses 1-2

The reason for the psalmists love for God is that He heard the psalmist prayer

My supplications

Inclined His ear to me

The result of God’s answering the prayer of the psalmist is that he will continue to pray to Him

Spurgeon wrote:

In all days let us pray and praise the Ancient of days.

He promises that as our days our strength shall be; let us resolve that as our days our devotion shall be.

Our gratitude should cause us to reflect on what God has done for us

Look with me at 3-4

Death surrounding the psalmist did not necessarily mean that he himself was dying — it could be a reference to the valley of the shadow of death — dark times, etc.

Sheol is the abode of the dead — the grave

The psalmist prayed for deliverance

Physical deliverance

Spiritual deliverance

Later on the psalmist once again reflects in verses 8-11

Notice the backwards progression:

My soul from death

My eyes from tears

My feet from falling

Spurgeon, in his commentary on the Psalms, wrote:

The triune God has given us a trinity of deliverances: our life has been spared from the grave, our heart has been uplifted from its griefs, and our course in life has been preserved from dishonour.

We ought not to be satisfied unless we are conscious of all three of these deliverances.

Finally look at verses 15-16

There are a couple of different ways in which to view how the death of a child of God is precious to Him.

It maybe that it is precious in the sense that the servant finds a welcome reception by God as he or she enters into their eternal reward

Welcome Home Children!

This is the place I’ve prepared for you.

Welcome home children, now that your work on earth is through.

Welcome home children, you who have followed so faithfully

Welcome home children!

Welcome home children!

Here where I am you shall always be

Forever rejoicing with me.

It maybe that it is precious in the sense of being costly — in other words, the death of a child of God costs God something — with this view in the Lexham English Bible translated verse 15 like this:

If this latter understanding is correct, then it would be in keeping with what Jesus said in

Notice verse 16 once again:

Because the psalmist had been rescued by God, he then determines to faithfully serve God for the rest of his life

How much more should that be for those of us who have been set free from slavery to sin, to serve the living God!

Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee; Take my moments and my days let them flow in ceaseless praise, let them flow in ceaseless praise

Our gratitude should cause us to meditate on God’s perfections

Look at verses 5-6

The LORD is:

Gracious

Righteous

Merciful

Once again Spurgeon pointed out:

The combination of grace and righteousness in the dealings of God with his servants can only be explained by remembering the droning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

At the cross we see how gracious is the Lord and righteous.

“Yea, our God is merciful,” or compassionate, tender, pitiful, full of mercy.

We who have accepted him as ours have no doubt as to his mercy, for he would never have been our God if he had not been merciful.

See how the attribute of righteousness Seems to stand between two guards of love: - gracious, righteous, merciful.

The sword of justice is scabbarded in a jewelled sheath of grace.

Preserving the simple ,

Our gratitude should be expressed in a renewed commitment to God

Look at verses 12-14

Often I have wondered how I, a mere mortal, can bless the immortal, invisible God only wise?

Here the psalmist says that he will take up the cup of salvation — Derek Kidner noted that “[the cup] suggests God’s gift to man, like that of , rather than man’s to God.”