Ascribe To The Lord

As we all know, in approximately three weeks this country will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day. In all reality this is a very beautiful tradition as it was established by the colony of pilgrims that was formed in Plymouth, Massachusetts, with only one purpose; the purpose of this date of celebration was to thank God for the blessings that they had received and were continuing to receive. Although in the beginning every State celebrated this date at different times, eventually Thanksgiving Day was established as the last Thursday of November. The problem that exists is that through time, the original meaning of this date has lost its value. The sad truth is that the majority of people only see this day as one less day of work, they see it as a day for a party or family reunion, and that is all. As all of us here know, today we will be celebrating Thanksgiving Day as a church, and we will share a very delicious meal. However, before we share this delicious food, I want all of us to reflect in the beautiful significance of this day, therefore, let us now turn to the Word of God.

Psalms 96:6-8 - Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary. 7Ascribe to the LORD, O families of nations, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. 8Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into his courts.

In order for us to have a better understanding of the message that God has for us today, it will be necessary for us to focus our attention in the definition of the word “Ascribe”. Ascribe is derived from the Greek word “yahab” which means to provide, give[1]. And the word give is defined as: 1: to make a present of. 2: to grant or bestow by formal action. 3: to accord or yield to another 4: to put into the possession of another for his or her use[2]. Why is it so important that we concentrate on this one word? The reason why we need to concentrate in the definition of this one word is because generally, when ever think about giving, they immediately associate this word with money or some sort of monetary payment; however, as we can see although this word may be used to describe the monetary, for the believer this word has a much higher meaning than this. I say that it has a higher meaning because the truth of it all is that God is not looking to see how much we offer or not offer, what God looks at is your heart. This is something that we are told very clearly in Proverbs 20:27 when we read: “The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being”. God is not seeking your money, what God wants is for us to place our absolute trust in Him at all times; in other words, He wants us to strengthen our faith; He wants us to act according to His Word; He wants us to demonstrate the power of His glory by producing good fruits. Having established these brief details, and keeping the definition of this word fresh in mind, let us now continue with our study for today.

The first thing that we find here is that we are told: “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary”. I know that there is a very large group of people that think that they have nothing to be thankful of. I know that there is a very large group of people that are at this times traversing through some very difficult times; especially in the tough times of financial uncertainty that this country is facing; however, regardless of any difficulty that we may find ourselves in, there is always a reason to thank God, and praise His holy name. What do we have to be thankful for?

I know that what I am about to tell you is something that I have repeated on other occasions, but the fact that we are gathered here today is a great reason to thank God. Why do I say this? I say this because there are countless people in the world that would love to gather in a place to praise and worship God, but they cannot. Say it with me: Thank you Lord for this place! The fact that we have been able to listen to these praise and worship songs is a great reason to thank God. Why do I say this? I say this because there are countless people in the world that would love to be able to hear, but they cannot. Say it with me: Thank you God for I can hear! The fact that we are able to express ourselves, sing and worship freely is a great reason to thank God. Why do I say this? I say this because there are many believers that live in countries where they do not have the liberty that we sometimes take for granted. Say it with me: Thank you Lord for the freedom you have given me!