I Will Be Thankful

Psal 136 1-3

Introduction -

In the 1930s or '40s brothers Barney and Ally Hartman created a mixer to make whiskey taste better. Knoxville historian and author, Jack Neely, told WBIR that the brothers "originally only made it for themselves," that the brothers' favorite bourbon mixer, a lemon-lime drink called Natural Set-Up, wasn't available when they moved to Tennessee, so they decided to make their own.

What am i thankful for?

Psalm 136:1–3 ESV

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. 2 Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. 3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever;

These verbs are imperatives - They speak to the obligation of believers.

Yet it is not just an obligation.

Have you ever noticed some of these malevolent dictators. They have thousands and tens of thousands of their citizens singing praises and expressing gratitude. This is an obligation that comes with particular corrosion.

But the obligation to give thanks to God is not exactly the same.

God’s people delight in extolling Him.

Giving Thanks is a privileged responsibility for God’s people.

John 6:1–13 ESV

1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

The story of the new testament makes the point that we should be thankful for what God provides even to the food you find on your table.

It is a reminder of a time when God’s people were in the wilderness and there were no stores.

Jace - called Taylor Groceries - Taylor Snakes!

No Walmart - there were no opportunity to plant and reap a harvest.

Every day they ate because God gave them manna from heaven.

They lived because God kept them alive.

I will be thankful for God’s sustaining grace.

I will be thankful for God’s ordinary provisions.

I will be thankful for God’s saving grace.

Romans 7:24–25 ESV

24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

I will be thankful because God has done for me what I could never do for myself.

I will be thankful for God’s extraordinary provisions.

I will be thankful for what He’s done.

Jonah 2:9 ESV

9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

I will be thankful for who He is.

1 Chronicles 16:34 ESV

34 Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!