Thanksgiving is a time when we can formally recognize and give thanks for the obvious and more abstract things that shape our lives here in Canada.
The first recognized Canadian thanksgiving was held in 1578, at least forty years earlier than that of our friends to the south. In a misguided attempt to discover a northern passage to the Orient, English explored Martin Forbisher succeeded in establishing a settlement in Newfoundland. In order to give thanks for surviving the arduous sea journey, Frobisher celebrated with a harvest feast.
The Parliament of Canada, formally declared the second Monday of October as “a day of general thanksgiving to almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed”.
Moses, the author of Psalm 90, like Martin Frobisher, could testify to almighty God for particular blessing following hardship. He lived from 1526-1406 BC. Although raised in the royal household of Egypt, he fled the country of his birth after killing a man. He lived in exile tending sheep. God called him to lead the people of his genuine birth, the Israelites, to demand of the royal family of Egypt to let the people of God go.
Moses probably wrote Psalm 90 in connection with Israel’s failure at Kadesh-barnea recorded in Numbers 13-14. The people (excepting Joshua and Caleb) refused to follow Moses into the Promised Land. This mistake had devastating consequences for the entire generation. Consequently, during the Exodus from Egypt and their failure at Kadesh-barnea, they had to wander in circles for 40 years in the wilderness until all those who rebelled (over a million funerals) had deceased. Despite hardship, Moses showed great thanks and praised God who he recognized as the source of every blessing and the one deserving the thanks.
I have had the blessing of being your pastor for almost a year now and this is a time for Lisa, Ethan, Garret, and I to give thanks with and for you. All of us in Canada enjoy freedom of assembly, relative safety, health, opportunity and material possessions. Corporately, every time of prayer, worship or fellowship should be a time of giving thanks but this special time of year is an appropriate celebration of God’s goodness.
As a people of God we gather together this morning to give thanks in 1)Praise of God’s Eternatlity (Ps. 90 1-2) 2) The Perception of our Frailty (Ps. 90 3-13 and 3) The Plea for God’s Steadfast Love (Ps. 90 14-17).
1)Praise of God’s Eternatlity (Ps. 90 1-2)
Psalm 90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. [2]Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
The inspired superscript to this Psalm says this is:
A Prayer of Moses, The Man of God
Ps 90 superscript the man of God. Moses is described as the “Man of God” (Deut. 33:1) which is a technical term used over 70 times in the OT, always referring to one who spoke for God. He brings God’s message to the people of God to consider their life in comparison to God
Moses was unique in that the Lord knew him face to face
Deu 34:10-12 [10]And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, Deu 34:11 none like him for all the signs and the wonders that the LORD sent him to do in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, Deu 34:12 and for all the mighty power and all the great deeds of terror that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
-Before we can praise God or give Him thanks, we must know Him and be known by Him. Only when we study who God is can we properly praise Him for His character and actions.
-Those who do not know God, mistakenly attribute themselves as the source of blessing: ie. Their cleverness, determination education etc.
-Only when we place our faith in Jesus Christ; God in the flesh; are we known by God.
In the second half of Ps 90:1 God is
90:1 our dwelling place. God is our sanctuary for protection, sustenance, and stability (cf. Deut. 33:27; Ps. 91:9).
-Regardless of our problems, confusions or going into the unknown, we can go forward with confidence because we know the one who knows the path before us and protects, sustains and is always there.
-This is a statement of faith: A Statement declaring that the same God who has been their protector and provider in the past will supply every need, not every want, for what God requires.
Thomas Ken, wrote in 1674 the lyrics which are often sung as the Doxology from last verse of a longer hymn, Awake, My Soul, and with the Sun.
Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Scripture shows us this concept of God being our dwelling place
Deuteronomy 33:27a [27]The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms. (And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, Destroy.)
Psalm 91:9 [9](Because you have made) the LORD your dwelling place--the Most High, who is my refuge—
Moses experienced the mighty power of God himself in many ways. He saw God’s mighty signs in Egypt, God provision of Escape from the pursuing army of Pharaoh by parting the Red Sea, and His miraculous provision in the desert of food, water and clothing that did not wear out.
In Ps 90:2, Moses considers the power and eternality of God. He is:
Psalm 90:2 [2]Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
God’s nature is without beginning or end, free from all succession of time, and contains in himself the cause of time (cf. Ps. 102:27; Is. 41:4; 1 Cor. 2:7; Eph. 1:4; 1 Tim. 6:16; Rev. 1:8).
The embodiment of this is Christ Himself:
Hebrews 13:8 [8]Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (ESV)
-In a world that forever changing at breakneck speed, it is a comfort to know we can trust one who never changes. We can always know what He expects and that we can rely on him to always do what He promises.
-He is our fixed point of reference for which we can give thanks.
Please turn to Romans 1
I once had an unbeliever quote Heb. 13:8 this verse to me as the reason why there was no immediate reason to repent of sin. I brought to His attention that since God is indeed the same, that means His requirements specified in scripture for repentance and His future role as judge will require of people the same standard that He specified was necessary for eternal life.
Did you know that a failure to be thankful is a hallmark of unbelief?
Romans 1:18-21 [18]For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. [19]For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. [20]For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. [21]For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (ESV)
Illustration: Always Had an Uplifting Prayer
There are times when we just can’t seem to be thankful. The Scottish minister Alexander Whyte was known for his uplifting prayers in the pulpit. He always found something for which to be grateful. One Sunday morning the weather was so gloomy that one church member thought to himself, “Certainly the preacher won’t think of anything for which to thank the Lord on a wretched day like this.” Much to his surprise, however, Whyte began by praying, “We thank Thee, O God, that it is not always like this.”
(Galaxie Software: 10,000 Sermon Illustrations. Biblical Studies Press, 2002;
In being thankful, we come Coram Deo, face to face with the source of blessing and recognize the one upon which we should be so thankful. Thanks be to God, from whom all blessings flow.
As a people of God we gather together this morning to give thanks in 1)Praise of God’s Eternatlity (Ps. 90 1-2)
2) The Perception of our Frailty (Ps. 90 3-13)
The opposite of being thankful is being presumptuous.
This situation should cause us to consider out time
Proverbs 27:1 [27:1]Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.
James 4:13-14 [13]Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"-- [14]yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. (ESV)
-When we are most thankful for what we materially or physically have, then we are foolish, for they are fleeting and so subject to change.
Please turn to Gen. 3
Psalm 90:3 [3]You return man to dust and say, "Return, O children of man!"
-The translation is best understood as dust and not “Destruction” as some translations put it. The Jehovah’s Witnesses and other annihilationist like to use that translation to say that sinners will ultimately be destroyed.
Gen 3:17 And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ’You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; Gen 3:18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. Gen 3:19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
-Sin has very real consequences. Because of sin, we suffer against a planet in rebellion, work is difficult, and our bodies deteriorate until death, when we return to the dust from what we were first created.
-The ultimate solution to the environmental problem is not the UN, Keyoto teaties or councils on climate change, but holiness.
-We show our thanks to God, as we live in obedience to God’s decrees, we will be good stewards of His resources.
We must realize that things can change:
Psalm 90:5-7 [5]You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: [6]in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. [7]For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed.
The physical bodies of the human race wear out by the effects of God’s judgment on sin in the universe (cf. Deut. 4:25–28; 11:16, 17). Death is by sin (Rom. 5:12).
-Perhaps we feel that we have eluded the effects of sin. But Sin takes a physical, mental, and relational toll.
-This Psalm remember was written to a generation that suffered because of sin.
-Like the disobedient generation, those who habitually continue in sin will experience God’s wrath
Our greatest thanksgiving, should be that we rejoice in being reconciled to God though faith in Christ.
Rom 5:9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. Rom 5:10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. Rom 5:11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Understanding how blessed we indeed are, is reason for giving thanks. For those who are reconciled to God through genuine faith in Jesus Christ, our blessing doesn’t stop there. Think of the ongoing forgiveness though the keen awareness pictured in verse eight.
Psalm 90:8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence.
This reality is awesome yet frightening:
Hebrews 4:13 [13]And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (ESV)
Psalm 90:9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. [10] The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.
-After struggling through his life of afflictions and troubles, a man’s life ends like a sigh, with a moan of woe and weariness.
-Though Moses lived to be 120 years old, and “His eyes were not dim nor his natural vigor diminished” (Deut. 34:7), human life was usually more brief and lived under the anger of God.
-This is a description of an average lifespan and it should not be misunderstood to be a promise to length of years.
-We are wise to set aside time to give thanks for the various blessing we have for they are soon gone.
Blessed moments pass so quickly. We need to “count our days and make our days count”.
-We cannot take anything for granted for people we once knew, like SHELLY have moved and others we once enjoyed their company have died.
This thought is considered in the following verse:
Psalm 90:11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?
Calculations are that Moses had nearly 70 funerals a day for the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness for about 6000 deaths in total.
What should we lean from this? What should we do?
Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Wisdom brings this realization to give thanks for and cherish opportunity and evaluate the use of time in light of the brevity of life.
Please turn to Eph. 5
-There are different ways to number our day’s. If you go to
www. Deathclock.com, you can get an educated guess to the date of your death,
-Like description in verse 10, this is an assumption, all other things being equal.
-We are to count the days and make the day’s count.
Eph 5:15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, Eph 5:16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Eph 5:17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Eph 5:18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, Eph 5:19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, Eph 5:20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Eph 5:21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Poem: The Blessings that Remain
Annie Johnson Flint said:
There are loved ones who are missing
From the fireside and the feast;
There are faces that have vanished,
There are voices that have ceased;
But we know they passed forever
From our mortal grief and pain,
And we thank Thee, O our Father,
For the blessings that remain.
Thanksgiving, oh, thanksgiving
That their love once blessed us here,
That so long they walked beside us
Sharing every smile and tear;
For the joy the past has brought us
But can never take away.
For the sweet and gracious memories
Growing dearer every day,
For the faith that keeps us patient
Looking at the things unseen,
Knowing Spring shall follow Winter
And the earth again be green,
For the hope of that glad meeting
Far from mortal grief and pain—
We thank Thee, O our Father—
For the blessings that remain.
For the love that still is left us,
For the friends who hold us dear,
For the lives that yet may need us
For their guidance and their cheer,
For the work that waits our doing,
For the help we can bestow,
For the care that watches o’er us
Wheresoe’er our steps may go,
For the simple joys of living,
For the sunshine and the breeze,
For the beauty of the flowers
And the laden orchard trees,
For the night and for the starlight,
For the rainbow and the rain—
Thanksgiving, O our Father,
For the blessings that remain.
Annie Johnson Flint V. Raymond Edman, But God!, (Zondervan Publ. House, Grand Rapids; 1962), pp. 20-21
As a people of God we gather together this morning to give thanks in 1)Praise of God’s Eternatlity (Ps. 90 1-2) 2) The Perception of our Frailty (Ps. 90 3-12 and
3) The Plea for God’s Steadfast Love (Ps. 90 13-17).
Psalm 90:13 [13]Return, O LORD! How long? Have pity on your servants!
-We can be a thankful people because regardless of present difficulties, Christ will return.
As we wait this blessed hope, Our thanks to God is so necessary because of His Present Mercy:
Psalm 90:14 [14]Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love (mercy), that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
-This Steadfast Love/mercy is Hessed, covenantal blessing: Blessing for those who submit to God in faith and obedience.
Pray this thanksgiving prayer of verse 15-17
Psalm 90:15-17 [15]Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. [16]Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. [17]Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!
We can be thankful, we can be glad even in the midst of affliction for we know God is at work and his covenantal people receive His favour.
In Verse 17 this favor is also rendered His beauty, delight, or approval
Please turn to Hebrews 3
We can be a thankful people for He establishes the work of our hands. By God’s mercy and grace, one’s life can have value, significance, and meaning (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58).
1 Corinthians 15:58 [58]Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. (ESV)
-Any genuine effort, will never be fruitless in God’s kingdom.
SLOW
-“True thanksgiving results in Thanksliving”.
How did Moses live his life:
Hebrews 11:24-26 [24]By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, [25]choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. [26]He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. (ESV).
What we are most thankful for, what we most delight in, shows what we most love.
A thankful hear will encourage others and learn from the situation in Psalm 90. The writer to Hebrews concludes on this situation.
Hebrews 3:13-19 [13]But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. [14]For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. [15]As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion."[16]For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? [17]And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? [18]And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? [19]So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. (ESV)
This thanksgiving, let us encourage each other. Let us give thanks for blessings received from God and His covenantal promises of future blessing. Let us learn from the Israelites who fled Egypt who failed to recognize the true source of every blessing and cling to the Saviour of all glory, love and comfort.
