A Thanksgiving Word

A Thanksgiving Word

Psalm 103

November 22, 2020

On this Thanksgiving Sunday, I want to focus on one word. If you had to pick and choose your favorite word in the Bible, what might they be? It’s like trying to say I only have 1 verse in the Bible which is my favorite. I think I have about 100 verses which are my favorites, and more are added the more I read the Bible.

I asked this question about 2 weeks ago on Facebook and I received over 90 responses. Which was really great!! There were some really interesting answers. And none were wrong, which was a good thing too! These were the top answers - -

ANSWERS

Love - 21

Grace - 19

Forgiven - 18

Peace - 7

Fear Not - 5

Rejoice - 5

Believe - 5

Salvation - 5

Those are all great answers and were really thought provoking. As I thought about Thanksgiving, you could come up with one word responses like - - turkey, ham, potatoes, casseroles, or pies!

There are a lot of 1 word answers we could give. I have a lot of words that personally come to mind - -

Power / overcomer / strength / Lord of Hosts / Encourager

are some of my words, but the 2 words I want to focus on today are - - - -

Repentance and Confession

Aren’t those strange words to think about as we consider Thanksgiving? Yet, without them, I wouldn’t have a thanksgiving celebration in Christ. If I didn’t repent and confess my sins, there would be no redemption. The blood of Christ that was shed, would have been wasted when it came to me. And many of your one word answers kind of mirrored this.

So, this Thanksgiving, I want to talk a little about repentance and confession. I want to use Psalm 103 to guide us. David wrote this psalm. While we don’t have dates for the psalms, I see this psalm as a continuation of Psalm 51, which David also wrote.

Psalm 51 is a prayer from David to God after his affair with Bathsheba. Because of the affair, he tried to cover it up. Since Bathsheba was married and now pregnant, which all led to David having her husband killed. That’s pretty low. What’s amazing is that even after this premeditated crime, God still looked at David as a man after His own heart!

One of the take aways from that to be really honest - - is that if God looks at David that way, then there’s certainly hope for me! How could God look at David this way? Well, it’s because of David’s spirit and heart. David realized how wrong he was and he repented and confessed!

In Psalm 51 David repented, confessing his sinfulness as he prayed, begged God, saying –

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me

11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

David craved a renewed relationship with God. And I really believe this is part of the reason why David is considered to be a man after God’s own heart. He was willing to confess, repent and draw closer to God.

I was going to have us read this psalm as a group. But since we’re not in one place this morning, I want you to follow along, maybe even say it out loud as you read the words on the screen. David wrote — —

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits,

3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases,

4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

6 The Lord works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.

7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the people of Israel.

8 The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

9 He will not always chide, nor will He keep His anger forever.

10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.

11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him;

12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.

13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him.