Give Thanks

Introduction

What are you thankful for? I want you to think about that question today, not just during the sermon, but off and on all day. I want you, when you lay down in your bed tonight, to ask God to help you be thankful. You would think that the topic of being thankful, or “giving thanks” would be on the forefront of most people’s minds, especially Christians, this time of year due to the closeness of the Thanksgiving holiday. However, when a lot of Christians are asked about what their thankful for, it might surprise you to know that the majority of their answers really don’t sound much different from the answers given by those outside the church. Why do you think that’s so? Over the past few years there’s been several studies that have been done delving into that question, and some of the answers are more frightening than you’d think. The answers given by those people who once attended church, and no longer do, are interesting because they can serve to tell us much about ourselves and the way many people outside the walls of the church actually view those within. Would it surprise you if I said that legalism, bigotry, and hypocrisy are all top the list? (Pause) Don’t get me wrong, I am for sure not saying that we as followers of Christ need to compromise our Christian values, or water down the message of the gospel, or in any way lesson what God’s Word says about sin. No, I’m simply saying that we would be wise as Christians to use the mind our Heavenly Father has given us to speak to those things, we’re asked about by those who are unbelievers. When you stop and think about it, it might just be that God uses what we say to spark someone’s interest, opening up a conversation that leads to our speaking the gospel into their life, which then issues into salvation, and one of those topics that comes up often in conversation is thankfulness; particularly why we as Christians are thankful, and what we’re thankful for. You see in the big scheme of things, in the long run, our answers to those questions concerning things like thankfulness is going to be vastly different than the person outside the faith, and rightfully so! Why? (Pause) It’s because from the perspective of the believer, God is good, and his steadfast love endures forever. If you’ve got your copy of God’s Word, I’d would ask you to open it, or turn it on (haha!), to 1 Chronicles 16:34. This morning we’re going to focus our attention on three truths surrounding thankfulness. 1) The command to be thankful, 2) Being thankful for God’s goodness, and 3) Being thankful for God’s (mercy) steadfast love. Let’s read our text.

1 Chronicles 16:34 NKJV

34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Prayer

Commanded to Give Thanks

1 Chronicles 16:34a NKJV

34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

In the first portion of v.34, we’re told to “… give thanks to the LORD …” What’s the first thing you think of when you hear that? Maybe it’s giving thanks to God through prayer or song. Maybe the first thing that comes to your mind is that portion of your income that’s given back to God, or maybe it’s the work you do in church to honor him. When it boils right down to it, thankfulness can be defined as heartfelt gratitude to God, expressed in response to his love and mercy. That sounds pretty simple when you first hear it doesn’t it, but when you think about it for a minute thankfulness can be a complex topic, especially for the Christian. That’s particularly true when you consider the fact that we Christians are told “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you” (1 Thess. 5:18). It’s easy to be thankful when things are going well, not so much when we’re going through a tough patch. Maybe that’s you; maybe you’ve been going through a tough patch for quite some time now and it’s hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but trust me, be patient and keep looking because God is faithful, and he’ll see you through. Sometimes it’s that tough patch that helps you recognize the light. You know, that reminds of something I read about that happened to the farmers of southern Alabama many years ago.

Illustration: The farmers in southern Alabama were accustomed to planting one crop every year—cotton. They would plow as much ground as they could and plant their crop. Year after year they lived by that one crop - cotton.

Then one year the dreaded boll weevil devastated the whole area. So, the next year the farmers mortgaged their homes and planted cotton again, hoping for a good harvest. But as the cotton began to grow, the insect came back and destroyed the crop, wiping out most of the farms.

The few who survived those two years of the boll weevil decided to experiment the third year, so they planted something they’d never planted before—peanuts. And peanuts proved so hardy and the market proved so ravenous for that product that the farmers who survived the first two years reaped profits that third year that enabled them to pay off all their debts. They planted peanuts from then on and prospered greatly.

Then you know what those farmers did? They spent some of their new wealth to erect in the town square a monument—to the boll weevil. If it hadn’t been for the boll weevil, they never would have discovered peanuts. They learned that even out of disaster there can be great delight.[1] They learned a simple truth, and that was to be thankful in all circumstances.

(Appeal) How about you, have you learned to be thankful? Often, we’re thankful only when we want to be, but there’s a problem with that mindset. You see, the phrase “give thanks”, in the first part of v.34, is יָדָה (yā·ḏā(h)) in Hebrew and it’s an imperative. That means it’s a command! That phrase “give thanks” can carry a couple of different senses, but here it carries the idea of expressing praising, extolling, or giving thanks in a public manner for the attributes and acts of a person or power, with the focus of the content of that praise being spoken out loud, usually in the context of a community. The point, church, is simply this, we’re commanded to give thanks in all situations and circumstances and that thanks need to be given in such a manner so as to bring glory to God because in doing so we point other people toward him and the salvation that’s found in his Son, Jesus Christ, but that brings up a good question, namely, “What are we to be thankful for?” For the answer to that, we’ll need to look at the second and third parts of v.34. Let’s start with the first part.

[1] Craig Brian Larson, 750 Engaging Illustrations for Preachers, Teachers & Writers (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2002), 15.

Thankful for God’s Goodness

1 Chronicles 16:34b NKJV

34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Verse 34 says, “Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good …” That word “for” signals a purpose; it’s the Hebrew word כִּי (kî) which looks like a comma and the letter “C” that’s been turned around backwards. Simply put, it means that we’re to give thanks to God because [ כִּי (kî)] of his goodness. Okay, well, what does that mean? You might put it like this, All God’s perfect qualities are made freely available to all for the benefit of the whole world.[1] The Bible tells us that God alone is good (Mk. 10:18). It also tells us that God demonstrates his goodness in a number of amazing ways; in his actions (Ps. 119:68); in his work in creation (1 Tim. 4:4); in his love (Ps. 86:5); in his gifts (James 1:17); in his promises (Jos. 23:14-15); and in his commands (Ps. 119:39). Scripture also tells us that it’s right for God’s goodness to be experienced in that God is good to those who trust him (Ps. 34:8; Na.1:7). Scripture says that God’s people can more than rely on his goodness (Jer. 32:40). Probably, one of the most amazing things about the goodness of God is that he works positively for good in the most unfavorable of circumstances (Remember the story of Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery, who later were told by Joseph himself, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives” (Gen. 50:20).) Lastly, we’re told that God’s goodness is to be praised (Ps. 135:3). Are we so thankful to God for his goodness that we praise him the way that we should? That leads us into the second reason we’re commanded to be thankful which is found in the last portion of v.34.

[1] NIV Thematic Reference Bible p. 1367.

Thankful for God’s Steadfast Love

1 Chronicles 16:34c NKJV

34 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

To begin with, in the last portion of v.34, I want to point out to you that it does actually begin with the word “for”. Many English translation miss this. Remember, if you will, that that’s the little word כִּי (kî) in Hebrew. When put v.34 all together in its entirety reads “Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for his mercy (steadfast love) endures forever!” That last part of v.34 gives us the second reason we’re to be thankful; it’s because God’s “mercy (steadfast love) endures forever”. Church, when you stop and think about it, that’s an amazing statement isn’t it, and it’s echoed all throughout the New Testament. The word that’s used there in 1 Chronicles 16:34, that’s translated as “mercy” is the Hebrew word חֶסֶד (ḥě·sěḏ), and it’s translated a number of different ways by lots of different translations. Some use the word “mercy”, others the word “lovingkindness”, you might also see the word “love” or “steadfast love” used there, or you may have the words “faithful love”. The point is that all of these English translations are struggling to give you a good meaning for a Hebrew word or concept that’s difficult for us westerners to connect with. Why? It’s because we don’t think in terms of a covenantal relationship. The closest thing we have to it in our culture is the marriage ceremony, which frankly, a lot of westerners don’t really take seriously. The whole warp and woof of the way your Bible is structured revolves around the concept of covenant. (A covenant is an agreement that’s enacted between two parties in which one or both make promises under oath to perform or refrain from certain actions stipulated in advance.) When you look at the structure of the Bible carefully, there seems to be a progression of covenants beginning with Adam in Eden that find their culmination in the New Covenant which is ratified by the blood of Christ. The point here at the end of v.34 is that we as believers should be thankful to God because of his steadfast loyal covenantal love and mercy because were it not for that we would have absolutely no hope. The amazing thing is that for those who believe and are his, that loyal love will never ever end! It will endure throughout all eternity. (That, by the way, presupposes that you can’t lose it!)

(Appeal Conclusion) That said, let me conclude by asking you the question I began with, what are you thankful for? As we enter the holiday season, we all have a lot to be thankful for despite what the world looks like around us. But I would dare say that the main thing we as believers have to be thankful for is the truth that we have a good and gracious Father whose love is so deep for his children that it will continue on for all eternity. The Apostle Paul capture this well when he writes, “38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38–39, KJV). If you’re here today and you’re a follower of Jesus, then you’ve got much to be thankful for! I you’re here and you haven’t experienced that love and thankfulness I would invite you to place your faith in Christ and take hold of it today.

Invitation

Prayer