Alba 11-24-13 (Revised 11-27-2022)
FIVE THANKSGIVING COMMANDS FROM PSALM 100
This month I have been sharing with you a series of sermons about Thanksgiving. I thought about calling them “Thanksgiving By the Numbers”. The messages have had the following titles:
Three Marks of a Thankful Christian
Three Things to Include In Thanksgiving
Three Attitudes That Keep Us From Being Thankful.
And today's message is entitled Five Thanksgiving Commands. We find these in Psalm 100.
One of the most beautiful Psalms of thanksgiving is the 100th Psalm. It is described as a psalm for giving grateful praise. Please turn to it and follow along as I read:
1 Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands! 2 Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. (NKJV)
It is not uncommon to compile wish lists at Christmas, and draw up a list of resolutions at New Years. But there is another list we often overlook – a Thanksgiving Day list of all for which we should be thankful. And it is not too late to do that.
A while back I looked on line and found something called “Your Personal Gratitude Journal.” It stated that research shows “Saying thank you for the good stuff in life makes for a happier, healthier you. And it makes those around you feel pretty good, too. So spread the love: Sign up to start your very own daily gratitude journal or see what everyone else is thankful for.”
People from all over sent in their lists of things for which they are thankful. One said... “I am thankful for my wonderful life and all the people in my life. I am thankful for my daughter, my sister, my cousins and all my friends.”
Another wrote, “I am thankful for my job. I am thankful for my car. I am thankful for my children. I am thankful for air to breathe. I am thankful for my friends.”
One person simply said he was thankful for “Grilled cheese sandwiches.” But not all things are good. Another person wrote, “That, in spite of heartbreak and disappointment with family fracture and estrangement, I am able to still laugh and find joy in living.”
Now our thankful list might not be the same as theirs, but I’m convinced that if we began to make a list, we would find that we have much more for which to be thankful than just our material possessions.
There is a real danger in this season if we determine how thankful we should be on the basis of how much we have, our possessions. Things like: "Do I have enough turkey to gorge myself sufficiently? Is my money in the bank secure? Am I healthy?" Often we let these things determine whether we are or aren’t thankful.
Like you, I’m sure, my list would include the major things life, health, family, friends, and the nation we live in, despite all its flaws.
But even more than that, I’m thankful for Jesus, that by His death on that cross He made it possible for my salvation.
I'm also thankful for our church family, and the mercy that God showers upon us each day. With Jesus we have so much for which to be thankful.
We talk about the underprivileged. But has it ever occurred to you that no Americans were more underprivileged than that small handful from the Mayflower who started the custom of setting aside a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God?
They had no homes and no government agency to help them build homes. They had no means of transportation but their legs. Their only food came from the sea and the forest, and they had to get it for themselves.
They had no money and no place to spend it if they’d had any. They had no amusements except what they made for themselves, no means of communication with their relatives in England, no social security or medicare.
But they did have four of the greatest human assets: initiative, courage, a willingness to work, and a boundless faith in God.
"A boundless faith in God." That almost sounds strange today in a time when powerful forces are at work in our nation to strip us of every reminder that the very foundation of our nation was built upon the conviction that we are "one nation, under God."
Thanksgiving Day is a distinctive holiday. It doesn’t commemorate a battle or anyone’s birthday or anniversary. It is simply a day set aside to express our nation’s thanks to God.
One would assume that because of the example of those early pilgrims, and because today we have so much, that we would be an extremely thankful people.
But it is often just the opposite, isn’t it? The more we get, the less thankful we become, the less mindful of God we are, and the more we want.
I think that the 100th Psalm was written to deal with that attitude, to remind us of our need to be thankful, and to maintain an attitude of gratitude.
I am sure that God had us in mind when this Psalm was written. The first verse says that it is addressed to "all you lands," (NIV says, “all nations”), and the last verse says that it includes "all generations."
This message of thanksgiving is so deep and wide that it applies to every person, in every place, in every era, in every stage of life.
It’s sad, isn’t it, that we are the only country in the world, except for Canada and the Philippines, that has a Thanksgiving Day? I wonder how our world would be changed if suddenly all nations would begin to observe real Thanksgiving to God?
We need to realize that all of the things we have may change at any time. They may drift away, or burn up, or someone may steal them. The only thing we have for sure is our relationship with the Lord.
And that is what the 100th Psalm emphasizes. Just scan the Psalm.
In vs. 1 you’ll find the name of the Lord.
In vs. 2 you’ll find the name of the Lord.
In vs. 3 you’ll find the name of the Lord.
In vs. 4 it says, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving."
And in vs. 5 you’ll find the name of the Lord.
The basis of our thanksgiving is the Lord.
Now, as we look more carefully at this Psalm, we find that there are a series of five commands that become part of and encompass our thanksgiving.
1. The first command is in vs. 1, “Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!”
That word “shout” has the meaning to "shout with the force of a trumpet blast." It is a shout of joy to the Lord that comes from the very depths of your being.
It comes when you see God helping you with your problem. Or when He has shown a new direction to go. Or when He just has provided a simple a blessing, and you realize that it has come from God. So from the depths of your being you proclaim your praise and thankfulness.
That is what the Psalmist is saying. Suddenly you realize that God has been so good to you that you can’t keep it inside any more. From the depths of your being you give a shout of joy to the Lord.
2. The second command is, "Serve the Lord with gladness."
It doesn’t say "serve the church." It doesn’t say "serve the preacher, or serve the leaders, or serve the organization." It says, "serve the Lord."
The Bible teaches that if we witness on behalf of the Lord, if we feed the hungry, if we clothe the naked, if we do any work in His name, whatever it might be, we are serving the Lord.
In Matthew 25:40 Jesus said, “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”
There may be times that we serve out of a feeling of obligation, or from a fear of guilt if we don’t serve, or maybe even because we want to draw attention to ourselves.
It’s natural for us to desire appreciation when we do something that is worthwhile. But the Psalmist says in whatever we do, we should be happy to do it because we are to “serve the Lord with gladness.”
3. The third command is, "Come before His presence with singing."
God loves the sound of our voices praising Him. But when it comes to singing, some people prefer Psalm 98:4 which says, "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord." (KJV) Most people can do at least that.
Have you noticed? In these first 3 commands, God is saying, "I want you to be happy... Shout with joy, Serve with gladness, and Come with joyful songs."
Don't embarrass anybody, but as check out the people around you, do they look happy? Or are they just sitting there with scowls on their faces? Of course remember, they are looking at you too. It may not always show on our faces, but it is with a spirit of thanksgiving that we are to come before the Lord and sing His praise with joy in our hearts.
4. Command #4 is, “Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.”
God made us, inside and out. God put together bone, and joints, and muscles and skin and gave us eyes that see, ears that hear, brains that think, and hands and fingers that help us work.
God is our maker, and we are created in His image. Therefore we should give Him thanks for who we are. Some place along the way He had each of us in mind, and He made us. He made each of us the way He wanted us to be.
That is a mystery, isn’t it? None of us is entirely what we want to be. But God is still working with us to be all He wants us to be.
He’s not satisfied with some of the things He sees in us either. He’s not satisfied with the weak areas of our lives where we are giving in to temptation. So He’s still making us. He’s still working on our lives.
He says here that, "We are His people, the sheep of His pasture." Most of us would rather be shepherds, not sheep. "It’s not any fun being sheep," we say.
But the problem is, we don’t know where the still waters and green pastures are. And every time we go out searching for them, we invariably end up in the far country.
God is saying, "You be the sheep. Let me be the Shepherd, and I will lead you beside those still waters and green pastures.” We need to be thankful for His leading and acknowledge that He is God.
Throughout the Old Testament the command to be thankful is stated in these words from Psalm 136, words that help us realize what a great God we serve:
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever. 2 Oh, give thanks to the God of gods! For His mercy endures forever. 3 Oh, give thanks to the Lord of lords! For His mercy endures forever.”
He is the Lord, the God of Gods and the Lord of Lords!
5. Command #5 is this, “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.”
“Enter His gates.” In the Old Testament, the temple symbolized the presence of God. So whenever the people came to the temple and entered the courtyards, they knew that they had come into the presence of God.
That temple no longer exists. But often the place where people meet to worship God has been called a "sanctuary," indicating that it is a sanctified place, indicating that God is here.
Hebrews 10:23-25 encourages us to come together to worship the Lord. That scripture tells us plainly...
“23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
We come into God's presence as we meet together here. It is a blessing to be able to worship the Lord in this place.
And of course we can and should be thankful wherever we are. We can, and should, thank Him that He watches over us every moment of our life.
Here is a truth about Psalm One Hundred: it is not about us – it is all about God. Look at what we have found in Psalm 100. In verse one, there is the Lord who is over all the earth. In verse two there is the Lord who wants us to rejoice with Him.
In verse three there is the Lord who is our creator and sustainer. In verse four there is His temple – His home with the doors opened wide for us.
In verse five it tells that He is good and kind and faithful to all generations. Does it not seem reasonable that this psalm ends telling us to be thankful and to bless His name?
Let's be obedient to God's command and give Him thanks!
CLOSE:
Roland Allen tells about a veteran missionary who came up to him one day after he had delivered his sermon. The missionary introduced himself and said,
"I was a medical missionary for many years in India. And I served in a region where there was progressive blindness. People were born with healthy vision, but there was something in that area that caused people to lose their sight as they grew older."
But this missionary had developed a treatment which would stop progressive blindness. So people came to him and he performed his treatment. They would leave realizing that they would have become completely blind, but because of him their sight had been saved.
He said that they never said, "Thank you," because that phrase was not in their dialect. Instead, they spoke a word that meant, "I will tell your name."
Wherever they went, they would tell the name of the missionary who had cured their blindness. They had received something so wonderful that they eagerly proclaimed it.
May we show our thankfulness by telling others the name of the Lord who loves us.
