Give Thanks!
1 I love you, O LORD, my strength.
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.
3 I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise,
and I am saved from my enemies.
6 In my distress I called to the LORD;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
16 He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
28 You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning;
my God turns my darkness into light.
29 With your help I can advance against a troop ;
with my God I can scale a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect;
the word of the LORD is flawless.
He is a shield for all who take refuge in him.
31 For who is God besides the LORD?
And who is the Rock except our God?
32 It is God who arms me with strength
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he enables me to stand on the heights.
49 …I will praise you among the nations,
O LORD; I will sing praises to your name.
50 He gives his king great victories;
he shows unfailing kindness to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.
- Psalm 18
Prayer…
PICTURE – this scene in your mind…
An old man is walking down a Florida beach. The sun is setting like a huge orange ball on the distant horizon. The ocean waves are gently slapping the soft white sand. The smell of salt water stings the air.
The beach is nearly empty. There is no sun to entice the sunbathers. Not enough light for the fisherman. So, aside from a few joggers and strollers, this old guy is alone.
As he walks down the beach, in his bony hand he is carrying a bucket… It’s a bucket of shrimp. But the shrimp is not for him and it’s not for the fish. NO – it’s for the sea gulls.
He carries this bucket to an isolated pier cast in gold by the setting sun. He walks slowly to the end of the pier. It’s Friday night and the time has come for the weekly ritual.
He stands and waits.
And in just a few seconds the sky becomes a mass of dancing dots. The evening silence gives way to the loud sounds of screeching of birds. Seagulls are everywhere. They fill the sky, they cover the pier… You see - they are on a journey to meet the old man.
AND - for almost an hour… this bushy- browed, shoulder-bent old man stands on the pier, surrounded by the birds of the sea, until the bucket of shrimp is completely gone.
AND - even after the food is gone, his feathered friends still linger. They linger as if they’re attracted to more than just food. They land on his hat. They walk on the pier. And they all (the old man and hundreds of seas gulls) share a moment together.
Can you see the scene… OKAY now I want you to file that scene away for awhile…we’ll open it up again at the end of my message….
LAST THURSDAY - we will be celebrated Thanksgiving Day...
YES – those things are good and they are a part of thanksgiving… BUT – they are not the heart of thanksgiving. AND LISTEN – the heart of thanksgiving goes back much further than the Pilgrims in America. YOU SEE - thanksgiving is not just an American holiday… NO – thanksgiving is an occasion that God’s people have been celebrating for 1,000 of years…
CHECKOUT – these verses of Scripture;
Give thanks to the LORD , for he is good; his love endures forever…
- 1 Chron 16:34
We thank you, O God! We give thanks because you are near. - Ps 75:1
The title for my message this morning… is simply “Give Thanks!” AND – all I want to do is to answer 2 basic;
• #1; Why should we give thanks to God?
• #2; How do we give thanks to God?
Our text will be David's song of praise found in Psalm 18 that we read earlier…
Why Should You Be Thankful To God?
NOW – if you have spent anytime in the Old Testament you know that David had a lot of enemies.... He spent many years in hiding.... AND - one of his greatest enemies was King Saul. David wrote Psalm 18, after God had delivered him from his enemies, especially from the hands of Saul. This Psalm is repeated word for word in 2 Samuel 22.
LISTEN - because of who God was and what he had done for him, David breaks out into a song of praise… AND - as David praises God, he gives us several reasons as to why we should be thankful to God… I want to look at a few of those this morning…
You Should Be Thankful to God Because:
God Wants A Personal Relationship with You..
12 times in Psalm 18 David uses the word ‘my’ when talking about God… He used it 8 times in the first 2 verses alone…
I love you, O LORD, my strength.
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.
AND LISTEN - what David is emphasizing here is his personal relationship with God... AND - he is thankful for that… LISTEN - to David, God was not some far off deity with a long white beard up in the clouds somewhere... (A God, that he had to please, but who he didn't really know...) ON - the contrary, David had a personal relationship with God... AND - the only reason David had this relationship, was because God in His grace - had given him the opportunity to know him.
AND GUYS – Jesus Christ has given us the opportunity to take that relationship with God even deeper… REMEMBER – that in the days of the OT God spoke to Moses up on a thundering mountain and told the people not to get to close… AND – the ark which represented the presence of God was kept in the holy of holies (30-30-30 room) behind a thick veil or curtain…
In His very first sermon to the multitudes Jesus said something that was totally radical – something that blew the people away to a degree that we will never fully understand… Something that without a doubt thundered the message; that the days of distance and rules was over and that the days of relationships had begun…
The setting was the grassy hillside outside of the city of Galilee, I picture the sky blue – a few small clouds, a slight wind blowing and the Sea of Galilee looking like smooth blue glass… AND - many people had gathered – hundreds perhaps thousands to hear the carpenter from Nazareth speak…
AND – Jesus about halfway through this message began teaching about prayer… AND – he said, OKAY GUYS – this is how you should pray… “Our Father…” NOW – I want us to focus on those first 2 words… GUYS – you need to understand that at the time, those 2 words were spoken they were the most unique opening line in the history of prayer–"Our Father."
UNDERSTAND - when you use a name, you make a statement about the nature of the relationship you have with another person. That’s why names are so powerful.
A name expresses the relationship you have. You state how much closeness exists. In a fairly formal relationship, you say Mr. or Mrs. If it’s a friend, you call them by their first name. If it’s a real close friend you might have a nickname. If it’s a family member there might be a pet name, which expresses the fact that this is a uniquely close relationship.
When John F. Kennedy was President of the United States, Life magazine published photos of his children, John Jr. and Caroline, playing with their toys on the floor of the Oval Office. AND those images captured the hearts of the American people like nothing before or since. Why? I think it’s because it bridged a gap between two thoughts: Kennedy was the President of the United States, but he was also a father. He held the ultimate political power in the Free World, but playing at his feet were two little kids who called him Daddy. I don’t think your kids would have been allowed to do that. Nor mine. But his kids were. Why? He was their father. He was not only President of the United States; he was also their dad.
IN - the same way, God is both our Father and the Lord of glory. YES - he is the Sovereign Lord of the universe – but we must never forget that He desires to have a relationship with us because we are His kids.
NOW - there were examples in the Old Testament of people using the image of a father to describe God. That had happened before. But there is no record of anyone ever coming to God in prayer and addressing him as father until Jesus did. Then Jesus uses an Aramaic word "Abba." It’s a real tender word. Little children used it. Adults would use it too – it’s like our word dad…
Jesus always called God, “Father” and this must have blown the disciples away… AND LISTEN - the awesome thing is that he invites you and I to do the same thing. That’s unbelievable. No more barriers, no more thundering mountains, no more veil of separation just a dad and his kid….
QUESTION - are you thankful for the personal relationship that you can have with God? Are you thankful that the One True God, the Creator of the Universe, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords ... are you thankful that God reached down from his heavenly throne and has given you an opportunity to have a personal relationship with Him? To hang out with Him to get to know Him…
ONE REASON – you should be thankful to God is that He desires a personal relationship with you… A second reason is ….
Because God Is Your Strength
David's first words in this Psalm are --- I love you, O LORD, my strength… David was a mighty warrior… HE - had fought lions, giants and armies, He commanded a great army – YET – David knew that God was his strength… AND – he had known that for his entire life…
David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
- 1 Samuel 17:45-48
Are you thankful that…
Throughout the bible, we see God teaching his people to depend on Him, we see God trying to get His people to realize that they must rest on His strength alone... We see God trying to get his people to understand that; ‘it is not by might or by power but by his spirit that mountains move, seas part and walls of difficulty crumble to the ground… ON – day four in our Journey of Change devotional guide we read some awesome words about God’s strength…
…the LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers strength to the weak. Even youths will become exhausted, and young men will give up. But those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint… - Is 40:29-31
Are you thankful that God offers strength to the weak; And that He gives new strength
To those who wait on Him?
A 3rd reason to thank God is because…
God is Your Rock
he will conceal me there when troubles come; he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock. – Ps 27:5 (NLT)
I patiently waited, LORD, or you to hear my prayer. You listened and pulled me
from a lonely pit full of mud and mire. You let me stand on a rock
with my feet firm, - Psalm 40:1,2 (CEV)
He will shelter Israel from the storm and the wind. He will refresh her as a river in the desert and as the cool shadow of a large rock in a hot and weary land.
– Is 32:2
Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse, because it is built on rock. – Mt 7:24,25
QUESTION – do you need a rock in your life…
• Do you need something firm to stand on?
• Do you need a place where troubles cannot reach you?
• Do you need something solid to build your life on?
[Tim…] – God is your rock!
A 4th reason to be thankful to God is because…
God Is Your Fortress…
NOW - most of us have seen Westerns where the people run into a fort to seek protection. AND - when we are in a fort we are surrounded by barriers strong walls or other fortifications that keep the enemy out. Fortress’ protect you and stand between you and your enemy. In another song of David, Ps 125 he writes;
As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds his people both now and forevermore.
LISTEN - Our God is all powerful and he is a barrier between us and the world/ a barrier that cannot be broken.
QUESTION - are you thankful that you have a fort, that you have a place where you can always seek shelter and refuge in? Are you thankful that you have a God who will surrounded you in order to protect you? Both now and forever more… Are you thankful that God is your fortress?
A 5th reason to be thankful to God is because…
God Is Your Deliverer
UNDERSTAND - many times God delivered David, he delivered him from Goliath, from Saul, from a lion, from The Philistines, from Abner even from his own son... YES - many times David cried out to God for deliverance, and God heard those cries and delivered him. David writes in verse 17 of our text,
He delivered me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. – Ps 18:17 (NLT)
LISTEN - God was David’s deliverer - And God is also your deliverer... If you are here today and you are a Christian you have experienced first hand like David, the joy of God's deliverance.
You too faced a powerful enemy… SIN - whose wage was death.... An enemy that was too strong for you... You were powerless to do anything to save yourself... AND – this is where God stepped in; AS THE WORD OF GOD SAYS
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly… God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. – Romans 5:6,8
AND LISTEN - God's deliverance of His people doesn't stop with this initial deliverance… NO - His deliverance continues throughout our walk with him. Checkout verses 4-17 of our text.
4-6a
David is describing just how desperate his situation was… IT - looked hopeless.....have you ever felt hopeless as your enemies (people & circumstances) surrounded you? You're not the first and you're certainly not the last.
Parents let me ask you a question how does it make you feel when someone messes with your child, when they hurt or seek to harm them... Does it upset you? Does it cause your blood to boil and the hairs on your neck to stand up? Are you tempted to grab the individual and say to them "HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH MY KID."
LISTEN - this is exactly the picture David paints in the scripture we are about to read... David pictures God: In his temple in heaven and all of a sudden God hears the cries of one of his children... Someone is messing with one of His kids... AND - God gets ticked...
(6a-8)
AND - God is not just going to just sit up in heaven fuming, NO - God is going to take action....
(9-11)
Do you see the picture David has painted? God parting the heavens, rolling back the clouds... mounting a cherubim and soaring on the wings of the wind... Making his way to deliver his children....
(12-16)
I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I REALLY GET PUMPED ABOUT THAT PICTURE OF GOD AS MY DELIVER.
QUESTION - Are you thankful that your God gets angry when the enemy messes with you – Are you thankful that God mounts his cherubim to come to your rescue, and that he is so powerful that he simply reaches down and pulls you up out of the surging waves, when you call to Him.. Blowing away your enemy and circumstances with JUST A breathe.
And - Are you thankful that God came down, 2,000 ago, not on a cherubim but in a manger – are you thankful that God in the person of the son - delivered you from the power of sin?
God Brings Light To Our Darkness
NOW – we could go on all day and all through the night and list reasons why we should be thankful to God (David lists a bunch more throughout this Psalm)…
BUT – I just want to mention one more that is found in verse 28; “LORD, you have brought light to my life; my God, you light up my darkness…”
You know darkness can be dangerous.... Try walking through a woods in the dark or driving in pitch dark without headlights... You never know what’s up the road or what you are going to run into.. Not only is darkness dangerous but it can also be kind of scary -- especially if we are alone…
LISTEN – before Jesus came into my life… My life was pretty dark… I was on some pretty dangerous roads, I was afraid, alone and had no hope… I am so thankful that The LORD brought light to my life…
YOU KNOW – I think I made my case… WE – have many reasons to give thanks to God… And we don’t even have time to mention; your home, children, family, friends, answered prayers, health, country, church, home, joy, peace, they are all from God.
How Can You Say Thank You To God
AND LISTEN - it is very important for us to discuss this because -- many times Christians do not show God that much gratitude... AND – “gratitude unexpressed is really ingratitude....”
They had no hope, they were outcasts, no one wanted them around, no one would even get near them , so they traveled around, living on scraps of food, sleeping in caves and under tree.. Their life was heading nowhere, they had few if any reason to go on. Luke records their story in;
LUKE 17:11-19
Only one came back to thank him.... Only one came back and threw himself at the feet of Jesus... The others took their cleansing and ran. Maybe they thought, "that sure was nice of Jesus and sometime when it is convenient I am going to send him a card or give him a call and say thank you"... But that sometime never came. Only 10% said thank you.... QUESTION – do you think the percentages have changed all that much… Today are more like the 1? Or the 9? I know that sometimes in my life I act more like those ungrateful 9 I let God down and slap him in the face with ingratitude) -- and when I eventually come to my senses it just tears me up to know what I have done to God....
LISTEN – I am confident that everyone here intends for Jesus to see them at His feet thanking and praising Him…then to have him see us with backs turned headed in the opposite direction enjoying his blessings… SO – help each of give thanks I want to suggest 9 ways to do just that as we wrap up… (these will come pretty quick)… NOTE – God like to hear thank you… notes I got last Sunday…
You Say Thank You To God
BY Being More Like Christ Then You Are Like The World...
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is.
– Romans 12:1,2 (NLT)
A 2ND WAY TO SAY THANK YOU TO GOD…
By Hanging Out With Him
GUYS – He loves it when you do that… HE – loves when you come to Him not out of duty or to get something… BUT – out of gratitude and love… AND – it totally pumps Him when the words of Ps 42; express how you feel…
“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. WHEN can I go and meet with God?”
A 3RD WAY TO SAY T.U. TO GOD….
By Praising & Worshipping Him Publicly
THE PSALMIST WRITES,
And when your people meet, I will praise you and thank you, Lord, in front of them all. – Ps 35:18 (CEV)
LISTEN – you did that today… God loves to hear his people sing praises… AND – how ell you sing is not the issue… The issue is why you sing…
(I sing loud)
4TH YOU SAY THANK YOU TO GOD
By Forgiving
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. – Colossians 3:13
God really gets pumped when you do that – when you forgive… I think it’s one of his favorite ways to hear thank you… ‘Father I am so blown away by your forgiveness that I just have to forgive too…” (is there someone you need to forgive?)
By Serving…
"You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many."
- Mt 20:25-28 (NLT)
I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. – John 13:15-17
LISTEN – when you serve in the church, when you serve others God hears thank you!!!
Ryckie talked about this last week…
6TH YOU SAY THANK YOU TO GOD…
By Sharing Your Testimony
Isaiah 12:4 says this "Thank the Lord. Praise His name. Tell the world about His wondrous love and how mighty He is."
NOW - you know what a testimony is (you’ve seen court cases on TV). A testimony is not what the lawyers do. A testimony is what the witness does. LISTEN – when you give your testimony - you're not trying to pressure for a decision. You're just saying, "This is what I saw. This is what happened to me. This is what happened in my life."
UNDERSTAND - Nobody can give your testimony except you. You are the authority on your life. AND - if you don't give your testimony about how God has worked in your life, it's never going to be told. In all of history if you don't tell your story, it won't be told. God says that one of the ways we give thanks to Him is by telling our story, is by telling the world what God has done in our own lives.
A missionary was serving as a doctor in a medical mission in India for many years. In the region where he was 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 matured."
But this missionary had developed a process which would arrest progressive blindness. So people came to him, he performed his operation, & they would leave realizing that they would have become blind, but now they were going to be able to see for the rest of their lives, because of him..
He said that they never said, "Thank you," NOT – because they were not grateful… BUT - 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.”
God has done some awesome things for YOU… And one way you say thank you is to tell others about what he has done for you – is to tell His name” wherever you go…
Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others…– Ps 107:2 (Msg)
7th YOU SAY THANK YOU TO GOD WHEN YOU
By Reaching Out To The Hurting
'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' - Mt 25:40
Will you reach out to the hurting…?
By Giving God Your Best…
While Jesus was in the Temple, he watched the rich people putting their gifts into the collection box. Then a poor widow came by and dropped in two pennies. "I assure you," he said, "this poor widow has given more than all the rest of them. For they have given a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has." - Luke 21:1-4
Will you give God your best?
9TH YOU SAY THANK YOU TO GOD….
By Denying Yourself…
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others… Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross. – Phil 2:3-8 (NIV,NLT)
OKAY – there are some ways that you can say thank you to God…
(loving Him and loving people – being Him to people)
NOW – if you would, GO AHEAD and re-open that file of the old man on the pier in Florida feeding the sea gulls…
His name was Eddie Rickenbacker. And every Friday night until his death in 1973, he would walk with a large bucket of shrimp, slightly stooped over to an old broken down pier on the eastern seacoast of Florida…
Something happened in October 1942 – that prompted this man for the next 30 years to make this trip to fed seagulls…every Friday night (1500+ Fridays in a row)
You see, back in 1942, Captain Eddie Rickenbacker was sent on a mission to deliver a message to General Douglas MacArthur. With a handpicked crew in a B-17 known as the “Flying Fortress,” he set off across the South Pacific. Somewhere along the way, the crew became lost, the fuel ran out, and their plane went down.
All eight crew members escaped into the life rafts. They battled the weather, the weather, the sharks and the sun. BUT most of all they battled the hunger. After eight days, their rations were gone. They ran out of options. It would take a miracle for them to survive.
And the miracle occurred.
After an afternoon devotional service, that was closed with a prayer for deliverance and a hymn of praise – the men tried to get some rest. As Rickenbacker was dozing with his hat over his eyes, something landed on his head. He would later say, “I knew that it was a sea gull. I don't know how I knew, I just knew. Everyone else knew too. No one said a word, but peering out from under my hat brim without moving my head, I could see the expression on their faces. They were staring at that gull. The gull meant food...if I could catch it."
And he did. The flesh was eaten. The intestines were used as fish bait and the crew survived.
QUESTION - What was a sea gull doing hundreds of miles away from land? Only God knows… But for whatever reason – he was there…
AND – because he was there – AND because Captain Eddie never forgot for 30 years - every Friday evening, about sunset...on a lonely stretch of beach along the eastern Florida seacoast...you could see an old man walking...white-haired, bushy-eye browed, slightly bent. His bucket filled with shrimp and his heart full of thanks, to remember that one who, on a day long past, gave itself without a struggle – so he could live...
2,000 years ago; Jesus gave His life without a struggle so that you could live!
AND – those who remember…
Those who have not forgotten
Those who are grateful for the second chances
WILL
With buckets filled with expressed gratitude…
AND
with thanksgiving
LIVE grateful lives for HIM!
