Living with Thanksgiving
Psalms 100
What Do You Think of When You Think of Thanksgiving?
Eating, Football, Long Weekend, Shopping, History, or Family? Thanksgiving is much more than any of this. True thanksgiving is not just a day for food, football, and family. It’s not just a holiday every fourth Thursday in November. For God’s people, everyday ought to be Thanksgiving Day!
Thanksgiving Day is a distinctive holiday. It doesn’t commemorate a battle or anyone’s birthday. It is simply a day set aside to express our thanks to God. Did you know that in 1789, George Washington made a public proclamation saying that, “it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor?” He recommended and assigned Thursday, the 26th day of November 1789 to be a day of Thanksgiving.
Of course most of know the story of the pilgrims and how they and the Indians of the area had a Thanksgiving feast in 1621 – long before Washington’s proclamation.
Even earlier than 1621 – we find people offering up thanks to God. In the Old Testament we find a Song of Thanksgiving. It is Psalm 100. It is subtitled “A Psalm of Thanksgiving”. It is an invitation to join together to acknowledge the great things that God has done. Not only does Psalm 100 call us to praise the Lord with thankfulness – but it also describes to us the nature of thanksgiving
In this Psalm I find five key words that describe the essence of thanksgiving. The first word is:
1. JOY
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
We don’t have problems shouting at a football game, but we very seldom raise our voice in church. I remember a few years ago when some of you got shook up here in church. I was preaching along and the Spirit of God was extremely powerful that day. One gentleman was so moved that morning that he let out a shout. He just yelled out in the middle of the service. It shook some of you up. Good! Our lives are meant to be a joyful call to God. God wants us to get excited about who He is.
Just this past week I saw the film clip of the victory celebration in New York City when World War II ended. That celebration was a shout of praise. The war was over – the victory had been won. I also saw a celebration as the New York Yankees paraded down the Canyon of Champions, we do know how to celebrate. We need to shout praises to God –we have read the end of the Book – we know who wins the war – we know who has victory – Praise be to God on high! We need to shout joyfully because God has won the victory. We need to be filled with joy and shout about it.
The Second Key is:
2. GLADNESS
Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Worship is not a one day a week event, we need to worship God daily. It is a sacrifice, an offering of Joyful songs. Not just about music, it is about an attitude. There are times when people come to church on Sunday morning worship almost like they are coming to a funeral service. I’ll tell you the truth – we need to come in here on Sunday morning like we are coming into a resurrection service. Our Lord has risen from the dead. we need to celebrate that fact.
We know how to be glad, we know how to celebrate, and we know how to be thankful when things are going well. What about when they aren’t? What about being thankful and worshipful when things are going bad or when it seems like we are losing. In the movie “Facing the Giants” the coach’s wife comes out of her doctor’s office, receiving news she was not pregnant, even when she wanted so badly to be pregnant. She says “Lord I will love you, no matter what.” Do we have that attitude?
The third key is:
DEPENDENCE
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.
Sheep depend on the Shepherd. In this verse we see three attributes of God. He is GOD, He is Creator, and He is Shepherd.
David understood this when he wrote the 23rd Psalm. When we learn that God is in control and we need him, our attitude changes for the better. The problem is we get tired of waiting. Could you imagine sheep telling a shepherd, okay where’s the pasture? How about “we are tired bring the food and water to us?”
We need the shepherd, we need to follow Him. We are dependent on God. He created even the air that we breathe. He knows every hair on our head. He knows every beat of our heart. WE must thank HIM for being God – we must be dependent on Him.
The fourth Key is THANKFULNESS
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.
We are to enter into His presence with Thanksgiving, we are to come to Him with Praise. Look at the model prayer. It opens with praising and thanking God for who He is, for what he is doing, for what he has done and for what he will do, if we let him.
Remember the 10 lepers, one came back and thanked him, are we like the one or like the other nine?
The Fifth Key is Gratitude
For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Gratitude is an attitude.
Last year I saw this ad, it showed people standing around in an airport terminal. As some members of our military walked by, I saw people stand and applaud, I saw people walking up to the soldiers and thanking them for their service. If we can thank the military for what they are doing, why can’t we have an attitude of gratitude for God?
He makes the sun rise every morning, he sends the rains in season. He causes the ground to yield crops, and he provides for our every need.
David understood this when he wrote the 18th Psalm when he said:
PS 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;
my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.
He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
PS 18:3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
Our actions will always follow our beliefs.
This Thanksgiving – with all the preparations, events and excitement – my prayer – is that God is thanked – with joy and gladness – with thankfulness and gratitude – and with a heart dependent on Him.
