A Psalm Of Thanksgiving

Introduction:

A. I hope that everyone had a special Thanksgiving Day last Thursday.

B. I want to start with a little Thanksgiving humor.

1. Here are a few suggestions you might consider to bring a little fun to next year’s Thanksgiving Day meal and experience.

2. Suggestion #1: During the middle of the meal, turn to your mom and say, “See mom, I told you they wouldn’t notice that the turkey was four months past its expiration date. You were worried for nothing.”

3. Suggestion #2: You might consider bringing a guest to Thanksgiving who only talks about the tragic and abusive conditions known to exist at turkey farms and have photos with them to prove it.

4. Suggestion #3: When no one is looking, switching to a pre-recorded football game from years ago, and see if anyone notices.

5. I should mention that doing any of these pranks might result in fewer future invitations to thanksgiving. Just sayin’.

C. On a more spiritual note, I came across a good quote that I want to share with you: “A grateful heart, will lead to a great, full life.”

D. Today, I want to point our attention to Psalm 100 where we are encouraged to offer the Lord our worship, praise and thanksgiving.

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness;

Come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God.

It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and praise his name.

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

E. Let’s pause for a word of prayer: Dear Father, as we come now before your holy Word, we bow in reverence and in expectation that the Spirit of God will take the written page of Scripture and come and speak into our lives in such a way as to change us. This is our humble cry and our earnest plea. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

F. As we focus on the 100th Psalm today, I hope you will agree that it is appropriate to set aside, at least for today, our studies in Colossians.

1. In the section we explored last week in Colossians, we saw that Paul ended verses 15, 16, and 17, with the command to be thankful.

2. But the next section of the Colossian letter, focuses on rules for Chrsitian households, including instructions for husbands and wives, parents and children, and masters and servants.

3. I think that study can wait while we focus on expressing thanks.

G. Many of our translations add headings to Bible chapters and the heading for the 100th Psalm is “A psalm of thanksgiving” or “A psalm for giving thanks.”

1. That sounds like a great place for us to focus today, wouldn’t you agree?

2. The 100th psalm is one of the best-known psalms in the Bible, but that familiarity can be both helpful and challenging.

3. Sometimes it is easier to study something that is less familiar and harder to tackle something that we think we already know.

H. Let’s start by considering the basic outline of the psalm.

1. The psalmist starts by calling for the people to praise God - verses 1 and 2 are a call to worship.

a. Then, in verse 3, the psalmist gives the basis or reason for our worship.

2. And then again in verse 4, the psalmist issues another call to worship: “enter his gates with thanksgiving and praise.

a. But then, in verse 5, explains the basis for that thanksgiving and praise.

I. Let’s spend the rest of our time talking about the invitation to thanksgiving and the reason for thanksgiving.

I. The Invitation to Thanksgiving

A. Notice how active this invitation is: shout for joy, worship the Lord, come before him, know who he is, enter his gates, give thanks to him, praise his name.

1. There is no doubt that this is a call to action; a call to activity.

B. We might summarize one part of that action and activity as “joyful worship.”

1. Notice the opening phrase: “Shout triumphantly” or “Shout for joy” – this is a call to exuberant, vocal, joyful worship.

2. In joyful worship, no funereal faces are allowed and no one should be looking like they have tasted a dill pickle or are sucking on a lemon.

3. No, this psalm is a cry for God’s people to shout for joy.

4. When Isaiah was describing the joy that God’s people would have after they returned from captivity, he wrote: And the ransomed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with singing, crowned with unending joy. Joy and gladness will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee. (Isa. 51:11)