Give Thanks to the Father

Introduction

Most of us have heard the story of the Pilgrims, those settlers who first arrived in the new land that we now call the USA. They landed at Plymouth Bay on December 21, 1620, travelling on the Mayflower. It took 66 days to cross the Atlantic Ocean and the voyage was perilous, bringing them to the New World in the bleak New England winter. Though half of the 102 courageous passengers died during that winter, the survivors were fully committed to stay in spite of the hardships they endured.

How many of us recall the travellers that came to our shores before the Pilgrims?

I want for you to hear how much thankfulness is in this account.

1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (The Founders)

The Founders

On December 20, 1606, three bold boats sailed down the Thames in London, embarking on a voyage to search for a safe port along the shores of Virginia. Susan Constant, flagship of Sir Christopher Newport’s fleet, 110 feet, 7 inches long, was by far the largest vessel. Though she had only nineteen bunks, she carried fifty-four passengers and a crew of seventeen. She was a sturdy ship with the crudest of accommodations. No one had any privacy except the captain. There was no galley. When weather permitted, food was cooked in sand pots on deck.

The second largest ship in this history-making voyage was the Godspeed. It was 69 feet, 2 inches overall, and had cramped sleeping quarters for twelve, yet she listed thirty-nine passengers and a crew of thirteen.

Quite appropriately, one of the boats used by the founders was the Discovery. This small sailing craft displaced about twenty tons of water and measured 50 feet, 2 1/4 inches from stem to stem. The rough “below” was partitioned for four bunks. Yet she brought over twelve passengers and a crew of nine.

It required 128 days for the voyage. The founders arrived at Cape Henry, Virginia, April 26, 1607, at four o’clock in the morning. On this windswept shore, the grateful settlers raised a “large wooden cross” and thanked God for their safe arrival. Jamestown was selected as their site on May 14. These were dark and daring days. The disease-infested swamps, together with Indian warfare, claimed many. Food was scarce. Several hundred colonists came to Virginia in the first six years of her founding, and at one point only sixty persons survived.

On June 7, 1610, it was decided to abandon the settlement. The colonists sailed down the James River once again to challenge the Atlantic. Next morning, Sir Thomas Gates, lieutenant governor of the colony, received word that Lord De la Warr had arrived at Point Comfort with settlers and supplies. Governor Gates returned to the empty fort and, falling on his knees, thanked God the colony had been saved.

We are often reminded of our duty to gratitude during this time of year.

Gratitude is expected as common courtesy among gentle people and is expected of us by God. In fact, when we focus on the good things that God provides us in life, it is not difficult to extend to Him the courtesy He deserves.

Yet thankfulness is much more than simply courtesy. Gratitude is a form of worship, when we consider our gratefulness before God.

Giving thanks to God is an expression of our faith: faith in past, gratitude for our present condition and expectation of future blessings that come from God.

Beyond faith, gratitude is a form of love. Love does not take for granted the gifts we receive.

The Psalms are the best place to turn to for a look at thanksgiving. As I said, we can find great examples of Thanksgiving throughout the Bible, but the Psalms are an absolute treasure trove when it comes to giving thanks to God.

Let’s turn our attention to the text for today, Psalm 100:

Psalm 100:1–5 CSB

1 Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. 5 For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.

[pray]

This passage is appropriately called a Thanksgiving Psalm. It was composed to celebrate God, Yahweh, the King of Israel. This psalm was likely sung as the congregation entered into the tabernacle to worship God. These thanksgiving psalms affirm what we know about God from scripture and serve to remind us to prepare our hearts for worship.

I. Shout Joyfully to the Lord

Psalm 100:1 CSB

1 Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord!

In the original Hebrew, this word “shout” could mean a battle cry of expectant victory or triumphant joy due to the victory achieved.

This kind of jubilant shout seems to be strange to our current church culture. I’m trying to think when was the last time I shouted in church.

Probably the best place to experience this kind of jubilant shout is to watch a football game. The roar of victory is just something that God built into our makeup as human beings.

But this psalm the joy is not for a football team or a rock star. This shout goes to God, the Father, the Great I AM, who was, is and is to come!

Moreover, this cry is coming to God from all the earth, from all the earth and territories of the earth, it is the collective voice of humanity that cries out to God.

As a pastor and during my time as a chaplain in the hospital, I have often been reminded that some of us do not have a happy song in our hearts, but a sad one. This is often the result of some circumstance in our lives. It doesn’t take much time in the hospital to remind me that we live in a fallen and broken world. Some suffer from the consequences of their own poor choices. Others suffer from the consequences of the poor choices that someone else made. And yet others are not suffering for choices, but for the disease and discord that runs rampant in this world.

Some people figure out how to trust in the Lord despite this brokenness and suffering that they find in this life. Paul gives us an example of this in his letter to the Philippians...

Philippians 4:11–13 CSB

11 I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. 12 I know how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. 13 I am able to do all things through him who strengthens me.

When Paul says "I can do everything in Christ, which strengthens me," he is saying that living in Christ can help him to do what God has set out for him to do. He’s not talking about have everything that he desires. He’s not talking about worldly success. He’s talking about success in God’s eyes by accomplishing God’s plans. And this contentment is something that he expects in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Part of learning that satisfaction can be found by giving praise to God, by thanking God for all that he has done. That satisfaction can also be found in service.

II. Serve the Lord with Gladness

Psalm 100:2 CSB

2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

This Hebrew word here is עָבַד (abad). It translated as “serve” but it can also be translated as “worship.”

Worship leads to service ... and worship is our service to God.

This word worship / service has a strong connection to the idea of slavery. When we choose God, one could literally say that we are enslaved to God.

The Apostle Paul refers to himself as “a servant of Jesus Christ” in many of his letters. The word in the New Testament Greek is doulos, which we translate in English as “slave” or “servant.”

A servant is one who is bound in the service of his master and is completely available to his master. In the Bible, a servant can volunteer to serve (as in taking a job), or he may need to pay off a debt, it it may actually take on the fullest meaning of the word slave, to be made the permanent property of another person and is promised to fulfill all his master’s mandates.

In this case, we worship God, our Lord—we serve him—and we fully devote ourselves to serving his purposes.

Ephesians 5 reminds us to “be filled by the Spirit:”

Ephesians 5:19 NASB95

19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;

That is to say that when we are Spirit-filled, these praises to God become natural to us.

III. Sing Joyfully Before the Lord

… come before him with joyful songs. - Psalm 100:2b

Psalm 100:2 CSB

2 Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.

Part of our service to God in worship is singing for him. The Apostle James taught this as well in his letter to Jewish believers...

Hebrews 13:15 CSB

15 Therefore, through him let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is, the fruit of lips that confess his name.

Some of you are starting to squirm, thinking that if singing is required that you may be disqualified ...

I believe that the Holy Spirit can interpret the attitude of your heart and bring your sacrifice of praise to God and make it more beautiful and melodious than you can possibly imagine.

If the Spirit can interpret our prayers, why not our songs too?

The hard part is discovering how to sing happily when our lives are falling apart. But Paul and Silas discovered how to do it when they were in their worst state ...

Acts 16:25 CSB

25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Surely we can find a way to praise the name of Christ in our difficult circumstances. In fact, when times get tough, the follower of Christ hits his knees in submission to God.

One of the ways we do it is by remembering who God is and who we are for Him.

IV. Know that He is God and We are His People

Psalm 100:3 CSB

3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture.

A. He is God

Acknowledge that the Lord is God. - Psalm 100:3a

Psalm 100:3 CSB

Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture.

It could be easy to overlook that this is a mandate: "Know that He is God!"

This is more than a simple knowledge of God.

It is to recognize God cognitively. We need to ...

recognize that He is God

have an understanding of God and who God is

understand that he is God

and more, we need to experience God

B. He Made Us

We need to recognize that God created us … - Psalm 100:3b

Psalm 100:3 CSB

Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Some manuscripts translate this...

God made us (and not we ourselves) - Psalm 100: 3b NASB

Other manuscripts translate it...

God made us, and we are his - Psalm 100:3b CSB

The difference here in translation is due to a difficulty in translation. Either way this is a statement that reminds us that we are subject to God. We don’t like to hear this. We like to crow from the rooftops that we are our own masters in life. But Paul says...

2 Corinthians 5:17 CSB

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!

PRINCIPLE There is no such thing as a self-made man in Christ.

Revelation 4:11 CSB

11 Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.

C. We are His People (the Sheep of His Field)

… we are his—his people, the sheep of his pasture. - Psalm 100:3c

Psalm 100:3 CSB

Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture.

And thirdly, another declaration of submission. He is the shepherd, we are his sheep.

Warren Wiersbe summarizes this verse like this:

This verse is a simple statement of faith: Jehovah is God, Creator, Redeemer and Pastor, and we are subject to Him. If the sheep do not submit to their shepherd, they will remain in danger.

QUESTION: What happens to sheep that stray? [They get into trouble!]

V. We Should Be Thankful

Psalm 100:4 CSB

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.

Verse 4 addresses the idea of thanksgiving ...

A. We come before God with thanksgiving

Enter his gates with thanksgiving. - Psalm 100: 4a

Psalm 100:4 CSB

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.

We sometimes get lost in this American idea that the Thanksgiving holiday is about family and spending time together. But the true concept of Thanksgiving is this clearly Judeo-Christian idea of thanking God for his past and present actions and reaffirming a trust in God for this future actions. The root of the concept is found in the offerings of thanks that God established for his people.

Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica ....

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 CSB

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray constantly, 18 give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

B. Come Before Him with Praise

…and [enter] his courts with praise. - Psalm 100: 4b

Psalm 100:4 CSB

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.

Praise is a perfectly acceptable way to express Thanksgiving. And it is the correct way to enter the presence of the King of Heaven.

C. Bless His Name

… Give thanks to HIm, bless His name… - Psalm 100:4c

Psalm 100:4 CSB

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name.

You might have heard the Christian song, Ten Thousand Reasons, that was popular a few years ago...

Your love has no end,

and you are patient,

and your heart is kind,

For everything you've done I keep singing

Ten thousand reasons to praise

- 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman

Are not those the reasons why we are grateful to have a God who brings blessings to our lives?

VI. Recognize the Immutable Character of God

Psalm 100:5 CSB

For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.

There are many good things to celebrate about the character of God, as we have seen in our study of the Fruit of the Spirit.

A. God is Good

For the Lord is good… - Psalm 100:5a

Psalm 100:5 CSB

For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.

The goodness of God is one of his most outstanding characteristics. God is good. And good is defined by comparing things with God. The more worthy of being appreciated and worthy of respect is something, the more good it can be said to be.

B. His Lovingkindness is Eternal

… his faithful love endures forever … - Psalm 100:5b

Psalm 100:5 CSB

For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.

I love this Hebrew word חֶסֶד chesed, which we interpret as “faithful love” here in the Christian Standard. This can also be translated to “mercy” or “lovingkindness.” However, I’m not sure that translation captures the depth of the word. We may not have a word in English or Spanish that fully captures the depth of this word. It speaks of a faithful and loyal love that has no end and will never fail.

This word is more than just a simple statement that God loves us and has mercy on us. This word chesed is part of the character of God. Just like God has no end and will never fail, his “lovingkindness,” his “mercy” has no end either. It is everlasting. This is a loyalty that God has for us, his people!

C. He is Faithful

… his faithfulness, through all generations. - Psalm 100:5b

Psalm 100:5 CSB

For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.

And finally we can see that God is faithful. His faithfulness is not only for the Early Church but also for us and for those who follow us, the ones who claim his son as Lord and savior.

We sometimes fall short with this ideal of praising the Holy Name of God. We sometimes walk around singing a funeral song about all the things that go wrong in our lives. This is not characteristic of the Christian life. When we find ourselves doing this, we are emulating the world, those who have no hope for salvation.

My mother used to sing the song “Count Your Blessings, Name Them One By One” as she worked in the kitchen or around the house. This was how she learned to cope with the troubles in her life, by concentrating on the positive things that God had done in her life—and she did it through the signing of spiritual songs.

We have to learn how to remove any obstacles to thanksgiving (envy, jealousy, greed). This means that we must examine our thoughts and eradicate these negative thought patterns.

By celebrate what God has provided and focusing on his everlasting faithfulness, we can turn our tears into laughter when we think of our God.

I have found that by serving others who are in more difficult circumstances than myself, I can remind myself of what God has done and bring that hope to others, who have great need. There is nothing better to give you a proper perspective than to serve others.

Conclusion

The Pilgrim settlers in Massachusetts celebrated that original Thanksgiving celebration on their second winter in America. The first winter had killed 44 of the 102 original colonists. At one point they had rationed their daily food portion down to five kernels of corn apiece. God’s provision, through the trade of pelts for grain, and abundant summer crops provided hope and a deep gratitude among the colonists.

Governor William Bradford decreed that December 13, 1621 be set aside as a day of feasting and prayer so that the colonists could thank God for providing for their needs and saving them from starvation.

Scripture is filled with examples of Thanksgiving, from cover to cover we can see that God’s faithful find reason to give Him thanks for all that He has provided.

In this holiday season, let’s do the same...

[pray]