MELVIN NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
Text: Psalm 116:1-18; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
ILL. “What can I do for you, Madam?” Abraham Lincoln asked an elderly lady who had been ushered into his office.
Placing a covered basket on his desk she said, “Mr. President, I have come today not to ask any favor for myself or for anyone else. I heard that you were very fond of cookies, & I came to bring you this basket of cookies!” (From Steve Shepherd on Sermon Central)
A. As Christians, we’re well aware of how important the attitude of thanksgiving should be in our lives. In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
But I wonder if some people see thanking God as some sort of business investment. What I mean is that they enjoy all the good things God has blessed us with, & they want those gifts to continue. So, to insure that those blessings continue, they pause every now & then to thank God.
That was the attitude of the ancient pagans. Pagans were concerned about keeping the gods happy; keeping them appeased. So, from time to time, they would offer sacrifices, sometimes even human sacrifices, to placate the anger of their gods & to insure future blessings. It was a “what’s in it for me” type of religion.
But Christianity is not a “What’s in it for me?” religion. The Bible views thanks-giving as the sincere overflow of gratitude for all that God has given to us. Thanks-giving is not self-centered; it’s God-centered.
B. In the Bible, it’s in the book of Psalms that thanksgiving is really stressed. At least 16 of the psalms were specifically written for the purpose of giving thanks to God, & many more than that include words of thanksgiving.
Of those 16 psalms, about half are psalms of community thanksgiving, giving thanks for the blessings everyone is able to enjoy.
The other half of the thanksgiving psalms are about individual thanksgiving. In them we get a glimpse of David & others giving thanks to God for things that happened in their own personal lives.
Psalm 116 is one of individual thanksgiving. We don’t know who wrote this psalm. It could have been David. Whoever it was, it was someone God had helped through difficult times. And as he thinks about what God has done for him, his heart overflows with thanksgiving.
Psalm 116 actually has two parts. In the first half, the psalmist praises the love of God & lists the many ways that God has blessed him. Then, in the second half, the psalmist tells how he responds to God’s blessings.
I. THE PSALMIST’S REASONS FOR THANKSGIVING
So let's look at Psalm 116. It begins with the words “I love the Lord because...”
ILL. In the 19th century, there was a young English girl, Elizabeth Barrett, who suffered a spinal injury which left her a semi-invalid for many years. Then she met a man whom she came to love very deeply & eventually married - Robert Browning.
Her love for him was beautifully expressed in her writing of poetry - particu-larly in her “Sonnets From the Portuguese." Now, that title may not be familiar to some of you, but I think the words which she wrote will sound familiar, “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways...”
Then she went on to describe the depth of her love for her husband. And that’s what the psalmist does here. Why does he love the Lord? Let him count the ways.
A. Because God "heard my voice."
The psalmist says, “I love the Lord, for He heard my voice; He heard my cry for mercy. Because He turned His ear to me, I will call on Him as long as I live.” (Psalm 116:1-2)
He’s saying, “When I spoke, God listened. God paid attention to what I had to say.” And that is not always what we do.
ILL. One father wrote: "As they were growing up, my children often wanted to talk to me when I was home. Most of the time, that wasn’t a problem. But some-times I was in the middle of something important. You know, like working a crossword puzzle.
"Or maybe I was watching an important television program, like a football game. And my kids would say, 'Daddy, look at this paper I brought home from school.' And I would quickly glance at it & say, 'Uh, huh, that’s nice.'
"Now I tried not to be that way, but I know I didn't always succeed."
But the psalmist is saying that it’s not like that with God. He hears our voice. He listens to our prayers. He pays attention to us.
The apostle John says, “This is the confidence that we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” (1 John 5:14)
Giving thanks to God should begin with the realization that God has heard our prayers, & He answers them. Maybe not always when, or as we wanted or expected, but He does answer our prayers.
B. Because God "saved me."
The psalmist also says that when he cried out, God saved him. In vs's 3-6 he says, “The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, save me!’
“The Lord is gracious & righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, he saved me.”
Again, we don’t know who wrote this psalm, but it’s certainly easy to picture David as the author, perhaps after being rescued from King Saul. But, whoever the psalmist was, he remembered the problems that he has had in the past.
He’s had some terribly painful experiences. And he did what most of us would do under similar circumstances - he cried out, he prayed to God. He asked God to save him. And his prayer was answered.
C. Because God has "delivered my soul."
And after he was rescued, he says in vs's 7 & 8, “Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling..."
He didn’t die, & he gives God the credit. He firmly believes that God stepped into the picture & snatched him from the jaws of death, & he’s very thankful.
We sing the song "Count Your Blessings." And the psalmist here is doing just that; he’s reflecting on all the things God has done for him. And we need to do the same.
We're living in a land of plenty! The blessings we enjoy in this country stagger the imagination. But sadly, we have a tendency to be complacent & not very thankful.
We read about Solomon & how very rich he was. And maybe you have wished for such wealth yourself. But with all the gold Solomon collected, he never had electricity in his home. He didn’t own an air conditioner, or have indoor plumbing. He never drove an automobile, nor traveled in an airplane.
I suspect that he never tasted a banana split or a home-baked chocolate chip cookie. When Solomon caught a cold, he couldn’t run down to the store & pick up a bottle of Nyquil to help him sleep better.
In almost every way I can think of, I have more luxuries surrounding me, things which I consider ordinary, than Solomon, the richest man in the ancient world, ever dreamed of having.
When we consider the many conveniences we enjoy, we should be driven to our knees in thanksgiving. “Count your many blessings, name them one by one.”
II. THE PSALMIST’S RESPONSE TO GOD
Back to Psalm 116 - the psalmist is thankful for God’s blessings, blessings that he knows he doesn’t deserve. And he wants to express gratitude. So he asks this question in vs. 12, “How can I repay the Lord for all His goodness to me?”
A. "I will call on the name of the Lord."
And in vs. 13 he begins to answer this question by saying, "I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.”
ILL. Harriet Martineau was an atheist. One morning she & a Christian friend stepped out on a beautiful fall morning.
As Harriet saw the brilliant sun peeking through the haze, the frost on the meadow, & the brightly colored leaves falling to the ground, she was filled with a sense of the beauty of this world & said, "I am so thankful. I’m just so grateful for it all."
And her Christian friend was smart enough to ask her, "Grateful to whom, my dear?"
You see, there is something inside us that needs to give thanks - to give thanks to God. It’s the same courtesy that should be given to anyone who does something especially nice for us.
We’re reminded of the ten lepers in Luke 17 who were healed by Christ - yet only one of them bothered to come back to Jesus & thank him.
We wonder how anybody could receive such a wonderful blessing & not give thanks for it. But most of us only have to look at ourselves to understand how that could happen. How often do we fail to express our gratitude to God?
ILL. I heard of a little girl who refused to give thanks at the dinner table because her mother had put spinach on her plate – & she couldn’t stand spinach. Her mother didn’t force her to return thanks, but she did force her to eat the spinach.
When the meal was over, the little girl asked if she could leave the table. Her mother said she could after she gave thanks. For a long while she sat & pouted. Finally she said, “God, thank you for not letting that spinach kill me. In Jesus’ name, amen. Now can I go?”
That’s not exactly the attitude Paul had in mind when he said in 1 Thess. 5:16-18, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."
B. “I will fulfill my vows to the Lord.”
But thanksgiving is more than just expressing our thanks to God. It includes dedication & consecration. Twice the psalmist says, in vs's 14 & 18, “I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all His people.”
You see, thanksgiving is not merely saying something nice to God, or occasionally treating him with courtesy & respect. Nor is it just setting aside a special day when we eat more than usual & watch a parade or a ball game - & somewhere along the line say “thanks” to God for our blessings.
We, as Christians, ought to be aware more than any others of the importance of thanking God through the way we live.
As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price; therefore honor God with your body.”
There is no such thing as real thanksgiving without dedicated living. In fact, thanksgiving isn’t complete unless it leads to thanks-LIVING. It’s not just enough to offer the praise of our lips – there must also be the praise of our lives.
III. DEVELOPING THANKS-LIVING IN OUR LIVES
A way to develop thanks-living in our lives is to remember that everything we have is from God.
Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” When we remember that, then we’re forced to acknowledge that everything we own has been given to us as a loan from God.
ILL. The story is told of a poor man who was given a loaf of bread. He thanked the baker, but the baker said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the miller who made the flour.” So he went & thanked the miller, but the miller said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the farmer who planted the wheat.”
So he thanked the farmer. But the farmer said, “Don’t thank me. Thank the Lord. He gave the sunshine & the rain & made the soil fertile, & that’s why you have bread to eat.”
Everything we own, we ultimately received from God & we owe him thanks. James says in James 1:17, “Every good & perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”
ILL. A preacher by the name of David Haun said:
"Last Thanksgiving, my wife & I drove to our daughter's home for the holiday. When we turned onto their street, I saw my grandson Ethan shooting baskets with his best friend next door.
"We pulled up in front of the house, & I heard 6-yr-old Ethan's voice yelling 'Gran-pa!' When I opened the car door I stepped out to a leaping body with arms outstretched & love exploding. 'O Gran-pa,' he said, 'I’m so glad you’re here!'
"That was a great welcome, & I loved it! But how different it would have been if Ethan had just walked up, put his arms around my waist & said, 'Gran-pa, would you get me a new power ranger, a rescue hero, & a hot wheels track?'
"Of course, I would still have loved him, but what a disappointment that would have been."
Now folks, let's change the scene. As God, our father, lovingly stretches out His arms to us, what do you suppose He longs to hear? (David Haun, Hope Christian Church, Sermon Central)
INVITATION
(Note: I cannot remember where I got the original idea and outline for this message. If it came from some other preacher's message, please pass that information on to me.)
