THANKSGIVING 101
PSALM 100:1-5
INTRODUCTION… Sermon Spice Video “What are you thankful for?” (3:48)
ILLUSTRATION… Go into the congregation and ask what they are thankful for (10 minutes?)
We have been talking about being thankful and what we are thankful for… but maybe you are not sure why you should be thanking God for anything. Maybe you are having difficulty right now being thankful. Maybe you have forgotten what to be thankful for… so, we are going to look at Psalm 100 today which is a very simple passage about giving thanks.
READ PSALM 100:1-5
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 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. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
I. VERSE 1: Give thanks with a SHOUT
The beginning of this psalm of David about thanksgiving really begins with a bang… a loud bang. If you love the King James Version, the verse reads to ‘make a joyful noise unto the Lord.’ The Message paraphrases this verse by saying, “On your feet now—applaud GOD!” The idea that we get from this verse is a loud noisy war-cry that is shouted. It is the same sound that a commander would give to begin a march or begin the battle, probably with a horn of some kind. This kind of shout is not a shout that you could miss even if everyone around you was being loud, this kind of shout can be heard by everyone.
David, being a mighty warrior knows what this shout sounds like. He says to us that when it comes to giving thanks to God, you need to give thanks with the loudest shout you can muster! It is the same kind of shout that went out as the Israelites marched into Jericho and took the city for the Lord (Joshua 6:5). It is the same kind of shout that the troops of Gideon gave as they smashed their pots and confused the armies of the Midianites (Judges 7:18). David himself gave such a shout after the death of Goliath as the Israelite army pursued the Philistines and defeated them (1 Samuel 17:52).
What David is trying to communicate to us is that when God provides something for you, it is not with a whisper that you let others know, but rather with a shout to the rooftops. Too often we are silent about what God has done for us. It is with a shout of thanksgiving and praise that you let the whole world know that God has provided for you and for your family!
II. VERSE 2: Give thanks when you WORSHIP
David continues in Psalm 100 and says that when we worship the Lord, it should be with gladness and with joyful songs. I want you to put yourself in God’s place for a moment as the recipient of the worship that you give to Him.
Are you getting half-hearted worship?
Are you getting worship from someone who comes in late to church?
Are you getting a person silent through the song service as the church sings?
Are you getting someone who never says thank you?
Are you getting someone who half reads through the bulletin while worship is going on?
Are you getting someone who always complains and always has a laundry list of needs… but never a word of thanks?
One of the important aspects of worshipping the Lord is to make sure that He hears from our hearts the thanks that we have for what He has done for us. We need to make sure that when we worship that our voices are lifted up… because He likes it! Giving thanks to God should not be a once a year event brought on by a federal holiday highlighting turkey and cranberry sauce. Worshipping with thankfulness should be something we are constantly making an effort to do. When we come to worship, whenever that may be, Psalm 100 points out to us that gladness and joy are important.
ILLUSTRATION… http://www.biblecenter.com/illustrations/thanksgiving.htm
One stormy night in Lake Michigan, a side-wheeler steamboat was rammed by another boat. The steamboat sank just a mile offshore from the village of Winnetka, Illinois. Out of 393 passengers on board, 279 drowned.
A man named Edward Spencer after seeing the situation unfold plunged into the lake and swam to the drowning people. He towed one person to shore and went for another. In all, he brought seventeen people to safety. However, the strain on this young man caused him to collapse. The nerves in his legs were so completely destroyed that he could never walk again. He was an invalid wheel chair victim for his entire life.
On his eightieth birthday, someone asked him to relate his most vivid memory of that dreadful day. He replied, "Not one of the seventeen returned to thank me." Can you imagine what the Lord feels like when we show Him little gratitude for what He did for us? In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus healed ten people of leprosy. Out of the ten people who were healed only one person returned to thank Jesus. What did Jesus think about that?
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner" (Luke 17:17-18). With this comment, Jesus was expecting the other nine to also return and give Him thanks. God expects us to be grateful and to express thanks to Him.
III. VERSE 3: Give thanks because HE IS GOD
Verse 3 of Psalm 100 explains that one of the reasons we should give thanks to God is because of the simple knowledge of who He is. The verse actually breaks this very simple idea up into three parts. First, we are to give thanks because we “Know that the LORD is God.” Something we may forget is that not everyone in this world knows who God is… they go through their lives not knowing the grace and mercy and love that He offers to them. We know Him and should give thanks.
Second, we are to give thanks because we know “It is he who made us.” Again, we forget that not everyone knows they were meticulously and painstakingly handcrafted by the Almighty Creator of the Universe. They have a mistaken impression that the creation of everything went from “goo to you.” The think that they evolved from an ape and that life is somehow meaningless. We know Him and know that He created us and should give thanks.
Third, we are to give thanks because we know “we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” I never want to know what a lost sheep feels like. I never want to know what it feels like not to belong anywhere. I never want to know what thoughts go through a person’s mind that does not know they belong to God. We know Him and know that we belong to Him and should give thanks.
IV. VERSE 4: Give thanks when you PRAY
Verse 4 introduces us to a familiar phrase that has made it into several hymns and other Christian songs over the years. The phrase is ‘Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise.’ When I think of entering the gates of God’s house or entering His courts… I think of actions that lead me into the presence of God. So what daily action do I do that leads me into the presence of God? What action could you do that would lead you right into the throne room of God… right past the gates and right past the courts… through the doors of the throne room into His presence? I cannot help, but think of prayer. When we pray, we are ushered into the presence of God because He wants to hear what we have to say. Oswald Chambers once said, “The purpose of prayer is to reveal the presence of God equally present all the time in every condition” (http://www.liftupusa.com/pquotes.htm). Prayer brings us before God and shows us His presence in our lives.
Psalm 100 says that when you are in the presence of God we are to “give thanks to him and praise his name.” Our prayers need to be filled with thanks and praises. We need to take time to count our blessings and name them one by one to our Heavenly Father. He wants to hear our thanks. He wants us to come into His presence with glad and sincere hearts to let Him know that we thank Him for His blessings and presence in our lives.
V. VERSE 5: Give thanks because GOD IS GOOD
[if you agree with anything I am about to say… shout amen]
God is good because He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. (Matthew 5:45)
God is good because He loves us unconditionally. (Psalm 119:132)
God is good because He sent His one and only Son to die in our places. (John 3:16)
God is good because He is ever gracious and merciful. (Exodus 34:6)
God is good because His promises never fail. (Joshua 21:45; 2 Corinthians 1:20)
God is good because in all circumstances He does not move from us. (Deuteronomy 4:7)
God is good because He forgives us over and over and over. (Psalm 103-2-3)
God is good because we can forget Him seven days a week, but He never forgets us. (Hebrews 7:25)
God is good because He does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)
God is good because He provides for us daily. (Matthew 6:30)
ILLUSTRATION… http://www.christianglobe.com/illustrationsTwo/a-z/g/god_goodness_of.htm
Often I have heard people say, "How good God is! We prayed that it would not rain for our church picnic, and look at the lovely weather!’" Yes, God is good when He sends good weather. But God was also good when He allowed my sister, Betsie, to starve to death before my eyes in a German concentration camp. I remember one occasion when I was very discouraged there. Everything around us was dark, and there was darkness in my heart. I remember telling Betsie that I thought God had forgotten us. "No, Corrie," said Betsie, "He has not forgotten us. Remember His Word: ’For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him.’" Corrie concludes, "There is an ocean of God’s love available--there is plenty for everyone. May God grant you never to doubt that victorious love--whatever the circumstances."
We should give thanks because God is good. His love for us is not something that is fickle that will pass away in a moment. His faithfulness to us trickles down even to our children and grandchildren. God is a God who loves with an everlasting love. And we should thank Him for it.
CONCLUSION
READ PSALM 100:1-5
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3 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. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
