"A Psalm for Thanksgiving"
Psalm 100
- No matter what seems to happen in our lives, we can always look forward to this time of year
- A time that brings families together, a time to reflect, a time to give thanks
- Many have been through life changing adversity and are still in the midst of it
- 2000 has been a year that truly has brought a lot of change, confusion, heart-ache, adversity, but also it has been another year that we, as believers, must be thankful for
- I want us to look this morning at ’A Psalm for Thanksgiving’
- Turn to Psalms 100 / Pray
- I want us to look at all five verses this morning as we focus on a time of thanksgiving this week.
1. Shout For Joy (Read Verse 1)
- One thing that I think we need more of in our churches today is folks who can’t help but SHOUT FOR JOY.
- We go to sporting games and we hoot and holler and are joyous when our team scores
- Yet in church, we seem very tranquil and we might give an occasional AMEN
- Have you ever had so much JOY in your heart that you just wanted to SHOUT about it?
- I think that is what God desires of us and yet I am not sure we know how
- Or I am not sure we want to…we might think it inappropriate
- But sometimes shouting is what is necessary for victory
- Let’s look at it from God’s word in Joshua 6:1-5 (Turn there)
- God is what gave the victory, but He required of them to shout in obedience and the walls fell
- Psa 47:1 says, "Clap your hands, all you nations; Shout to God with cries of joy."
- Psa 66:1 "Shout with joy to God, all the earth."
- Psa 95:1, "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout aloud to the Rock of our Salvation"
- Isa 12:6, "Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for Great is the Holy One of Israel among you."
- Isa 26:19, "…You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy…"
- This thanksgiving, you may be in adversity, troubling situations, under persecution,
- Just maybe, just like the walls of Jericho, you might want to do a little shouting that God can bring the walls tumbling down
TRANS: Not only, shout with joy before the Lord this thanksgiving but come and…
2. Worship with Gladness (Read verse 2)
- It seems that many times when we enter into God’s presence, all we have to bring is problems and sadness
- But when we really begin to seek His face and enter in His worship, He turns the worship into a worship of Gladness and joy
- Turn to Jer 31:10-13
- When we come into His presence, and we truly lay it all out
- We turn it all over to Him and worship Him, He will turn our mourning into gladness
- This thanksgiving, let us come and bow down in His presence, lay it all at His feet that we can Worship Him in Gladness
TRANS: A part of being able to worship with gladness, is in our hearts we…
3. Know the Lord is God (Read verse 3)
- John 1:1-2, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning"
- John 1:14, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."
- We have the assurance that when we worship Him that He is the One True God.
- In John 10:30 Jesus says, "I and the Father are one"
- Turn with me to Heb 1:7-10
- Not only is He Lord of the believer but He is Lord of all and over all.
- We are the works of His hands, we are His people, the sheep of His pasture
- When we give thanks this year, Let us give thanks Knowing the Lord is God
TRANS: When we worship with gladness, knowing He is God, it then should cause us to…
4. Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving (Read verse 4)
- Whenever we come into His Presence, it should be with a heart and an attitude of thankfulness
- Paul even tells us in 1 Thess 5:18, "to give thanks in all things…ALL CIRCUMSTANCES"…even the bad!
- We have so much to be thankful for everyday of our lives
- We sing the song "Count your blessings, name them one by one"
- We can’t even realistically begin to do that because there are too many to count
- But, we should enter into God’s presence with giving thanks to Him for all He has done. You might say, what do we have to be thankful for
- The most precious is found in II Cor 9:15, "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift."
- What gift? The only begotten Son…the gift of life eternal with God!
- II Cor 15:55-57, "Where O death, is your victory? Where O death is your sting? The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
- We must be a thankful people and we must express to God
- 1 Chron 16:8 says, "Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name…"
- When we pray as well, we should come with thanksgiving
- Phil 4:6 says, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God…"
- This thanksgiving, may we remember to Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving.
TRANS: The last thing we can be sure of during this time of giving thanks is the fact that…
5. His Love and Faithfulness Endures Forever (Read verse 5)
- No matter what happens, what we go through, what we must endure, His love and faithfulness endures forever
- There is nothing you can do, no place you can hide, no place you can run to that God’s love and faithfulness will not endure
- Ex 15:13 says, "In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed…"
- Even when we are stiff-necked and forget what He has done for us, like Israel, look what it says in Neh 9:17, "They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed…they became stiff-necked…but you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love."
- We need to remember and be thankful this season that His love endures and He is faithful to the end…even to the death on a cross
- This thanksgiving, we can be thankful that His Love and Faithfulness Endures Forever.
CONCLUSION
- As we approach the holiday season, and as we enjoy family and friends, I think we must always remember that we have a great deal to be Thankful for
- Whenever we do think about being thankful, I hope we can do as we have seen this morning in Psa 100
1. Shout For Joy
2. Worship with Gladness
3. Know the Lord is God
4. Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving
5. His Love and Faithfulness Endures Forever
- Pray
