The Anatomy of Gratitude

Series recap

Psalm 30 ESV

A Psalm of David. A song at the dedication of the temple. I will extol you, O Lord, for you have drawn me up and have not let my foes rejoice over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit. Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. As for me, I said in my prosperity, “I shall never be moved.” By your favor, O Lord, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed. To you, O Lord, I cry, and to the Lord I plead for mercy: “What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper!” You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to you forever!

Introduction

FCF: Gratitude is often short-lived

Authentic gratitude endures.

What are the components of enduring gratitude?

1. Exaltation (1-5)

As we express our praise to God, to whom must we proclaim our praise?

Ourselves (1-3)

To be clear, we are not praising ourselves, but as we express our praise to God, we need to understand that expression as a sermon to ourselves.

Example of preaching to self:

Psalm 42:5 ESV

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation

Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary The Rescue (30:1–5)

it is the word for pulling up a bucket from a well

From what well was David saying he was lifted?

the mocking from his enemies (1)

sickness (2)

Sheol: The place where the dead reside

Psalms 1–72: An Introduction and Commentary ‘Turn, O Lord’ (6:1–5)

Sheol can be pictured in a number of ways: chiefly as a vast sepulchral cavern (cf. Ezek. 32:18–32) or stronghold (Pss 9:13; 107:18; Matt. 16:18); but also as a dark wasteland (Job 10:22) or as a beast of prey (e.g. Isa. 5:14; Jon. 2:2; Hab. 2:5). This is not definitive language, but poetic and evocative; and it is matched by various phrases that highlight the tragedy of death as that which silences a man’s worship (as here; cf 30:9; 88:10f.; 115:17; Isa. 38:18f.), shatters his plans (146:4), cuts him off from God and man (88:5; Eccl. 2:16) and makes an end of him (39:13). These

For David, his well was as deep as death. Have you ever felt this way? Felt that whatever was troubling you, whatever trial you were facing it seemed that it was perhaps giving a slight insight into what it might be to be on the edge of death?

What is your well? We can’t climb out of these wells ourselves. But God lifts us up out of them. He, like verse 3 says, restores us to life.

In fact the word restore here lit. means to restore by replacing a part or putting together what is torn or broken.

The same word was used to describe the rebuilding of Jerusalem after David had taken the city as king:

1 Chronicles 11:8 ESV

And he built the city all around from the Millo in complete circuit, and Joab repaired the rest of the city.

When we express praise to God, we must preach to ourselves the message of restoration. God lifts us up from the lowest time, the lowest moments of our lives, those times in our lives when we feel as if we might be close to death and repairs what is broken. We cannot fix ourselves, but God can and He does.

and we need to preach this same message to others… to each other in fact

Others (4-5)

Notice verse 4: sing praises to the Lord, O you His saints and give thanks to His holy name.

He’s calling the saints to praise God and give Him thanks. This way of life… praising God in the midst of hardship and in times of blessings does not make sense to the world. But for God’s people, knowing who God is, what He has done, what He continues to do, how He continues to work in our lives, to what purpose He calls us to pursue, it all makes sense.

But David provides an explanation of sorts to justify his exhortation to the saints to praise God in verse 5

A contrast between the momentary and eternal. Between troubles the weigh little compared to the weight of God’s glory.

Weeping may arrive at night, but by the time the morning comes, we will rejoice. This illustrates the contrast between the momentary and the eternal. Perhaps we weep now.... perhaps for what feels like a long time, but if we are in Christ, we can be absolutely sure that the morning will come and when it does, we will be overwhelmed with joy.

This is the message we need to preach to each other, but our message to each other must be the overflow of our own praise to God.

Testimonies of Gratitude

This is what grateful people do. This is a mark of authentic gratitude.

Another mark

2. Confession (6-10)

Perhaps confession is not the first act we think to take when it comes the being a grateful people. Maybe it’s not even the 2nd or 3rd. But notice what David, in the midst of expressing praise to God, calling himself and others to give God their thanks, does. He confesses his sin to God.

Sin is the enemy of gratitude. To be more specific, our sin is the enemy of gratitude. If we are to be grateful, if our gratitude is to endure through the trials of life, we must commit ourselves to the regular practice of confession.

What must we confess to remain grateful?

Our pride (6)

David, in a time when things were going well in his life, concluded that he was untouchable. That he was secure, and he was so because of himself.

David was in a time of easy circumstances, and it’s often in those times when we become careless, apathetic.

Jeremiah 22:21 ESV

I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’ This has been your way from your youth, that you have not obeyed my voice.

Proverbs 1:32 ESV

For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

We also need to confess our...

Our dependence (7-8)

GOD has made David’s mountain to stand strong. David went from saying, I will never be moved to now confessing that it is God’s strengthening power that sustains him.

There is nothing in this world on which we can depend.

Health

Economy

Family

Country

Justice

Peace with our fellow man

All of the components of our lives are frail. They can change in ways we don’t want and can go away all together even if we don’t want them to.

So the end of v. 7 is sobering yet clarifying: when you hide your face (his favor) we can expect to be dismayed. We are completely dependent on God and possess no ultimate ability to sustain ourselves or anything in our lives. And recognizing this… confessing this is absolutely crucial to being and remaining grateful.

Like v. 8 makes clear, we need God’s mercy… more than we need anything or anyone.

Our poverty (9-10)

The point David makes in 9 is that if he dies, God looses a worshipper. This is a limited argument on its face, but notice the perceptive David approaches this. From God’s. He’s essentially asking what glory will God receive from his death. The concern here is one for God’s glory. This is where the wealth is. This is where the satisfaction is found. In God’s glory. We have nothing to offer. We need God, and we need to live a life centered on God’s glory.... for God’s glory.

So again, the answer to living this way, seeing life this way is that God’s mercy would be poured out upon us like v. 10 makes clear.

So authentic gratitude endures, and this kind of gratitude is one of

exaltation

confession

and finally...

3. Celebration (11-12)

What’s the nature of grateful celebration?

It’s evident (11)

from mourning to dancing

from being clothed in sackcloth (mourning/submission) to being clothed in gladness

It’s Deep (12)

“glory” = soul. Most inner being sings praise. And this overflows into life-long thanksgiving… lifelong gratitude.... enduring gratitude