Watchman of Thanksgiving
Psalm 100
Morning, November 18, 2001
Pastor Don Walker
Twentieth Street Baptist Church
www.GoToJesus.org
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.
This is a hymn sung by the Jewish people as they celebrated God. It is a hymn of worship. It is a hymn of praise. It is a hymn of thanksgiving.
There is a series of 5 commands given.
I. The first command is in vs. 1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
A. Make a joyful shout.
1. A shout of loyalty and homage, as in 1 Sam. 10:24
a. Years before this time, a King was chosen for Israel EHis name was Saul (1 Samuel 10:24).
b. Samuel was the last of a long line of leaders for Israel called Judges.
Samuel said to all the people, "Do you see the man the LORD has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people." Then the people shouted, "Long live the king!"
2. The first contemporary example I thought of is gWe Are EMarshall.E
a. Now just stay with me a moment as we put all of this in perspective (Ifm not being disrespectful to the Lord!)
b. Suppose we would form a cheer for God Ewhat might it be like?
1) gPraise the Lord Eevery nation!E
2) "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come" (Revelation 4:8).
3) "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being" (Revelation 4:11).
4) Letfs try one! -- gHoly, Holy, Holy Eis the Lord God AlmightyE
5) Another EgYou are worthy, our Lord and God Eto receive glory, honor, and power!E
B. gAll you lands.E
1. The psalmist is speaking of the nations of the world.
2. The nations must recognize who the Lord is.
a. He is "the LORD" by whose grace and blessings people exist.
b. The nations are invited to sing hymns to the Lord and to worship him.
c. The invitation is a free offer.
d. The submission to his rule comes out of a heart response of joy and gratitude.
C. This is praising God from the depths of your being.
1. Perhaps you have had a problem or a question that has been bothering you EGod solved it.
2. It might be that God has given a blessing, so you give praise and thanksgiving to Him
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 told an interesting story. He 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 matured."
But this missionary had developed a process which would arrest progressive blindness. So people came to him for treatment. After the people had been treated they knew they would have become blind without the treatment, but now they were going to be able to see for the rest of their lives.
The strange thing was that they never said, "Thank you." There was no way they could say thank you in their language. They had no word for thanks. 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.
(adapted from Pastor Melvin Newland)
3. This is part of what the Psalmist commands.
a. Make a joyful shout because you realize that God has accomplished something so good you canft keep it inside any more.
b. From the depths of your being you shout your joy unto the Lord.
II. The Second Command Is to gServe the Lord with GladnessE(verse 2a).
A. Whom do we serve?
1. The command is not to serve the church, or the preacher, or serve the organization.
2. The command is to "serve the Lord."
B. No doubt Jesus plainly teaches in the story of what will happen before Him as He judges every person who has every lived upon the face of this earth (Matthew 25:31-46).
1. In this Jesus teaches that if we feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give water to the thirsty, we are serving the Lord.
2. Jesus said, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto me."
C. Notice the psalmist says gServe the Lord with gladness." ..
1. This word reflects the joy in living in harmony with the Creator, Redeemer, and King.
2. The only ways we can live in harmony with God is to be a servant.
a. The example is Jesus.
b. He took on the skin and bones of a man and became a servant.
3. Ifm not sure that we grasp that.
a. Maybe we serve at times out of a feeling of obligation or a fear of guilt if we donft serve, or maybe even because we want to draw attention to ourselves.
b. Itfs natural for us to desire appreciation when we do something that is worthwhile.
c. But the Psalmist says, "In whatever you do, serve the Lord with gladness."
III. The third command is gCome before His presence with singingE(verse 2b).
A. You may have already caught the picture of worship which the psalmist is describing.
1. Joyful songs are proper as one approaches Godfs presence in worship.
a. Have you noticed what God has said in these first three commands?
b. He has said, "Shout with joy, serve with gladness, and come with joyful songs."
2. Doesnft it sound like God wants you to be happy in worship?
B. Worship is a joyful scene.
1. I cannot think of one description of worship in the Bible that is not happy.
2. Why must we think that worship is solemn?
a. I have been to funeral that are more joyful than some worship services Ifve been in.
b. Isnft there something that is a little out of shape here?
3. I may do this someday Enot today Ebut I may take a video tape of our congregation singing as we begin worship.
a. Think about this Ewhat do you think would be the expression on the faces of people around you
b. What would be the expression on your face?
4. Letfs just read what the Psalmist has said in these first two verses.
1 Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands!
2 Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
IV. The Fourth Command Is gKnow that the LORD, He is GodE (verse 3a).
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.
A. gKnowEis the first word we see in verse 3.
1. John MacArthur says this is gIn the sense of experiencing and being completely assured of the truth.E
2. To be truly happy in worship and grateful in thanksgiving we have to have more than head knowledge of God.
B. Who is this God that we are to experience?
1. He is the One who has made us.
a. He has made us the way he wants us to be.
b. Here is a word for each of us: God has made you the way you are, so develop an attitude of thanksgiving about yourself.
c. Here is a letter that was written to Dear Abby that was published yesterday in the paper (Herald Dispatch, Huntington, WV, November 17, 2001, p. 5c).
Dear Abby: After reading the letter from gBullied in Delaware,Ewho was critical of an article she had read about how to prevent bullying, I had to write.
I am a 17-year old girl who was teased and tormented from first grade on. Because of it, I became depressed and began eating my problems away, which led to the nickname, gBig RedEand other undignified labels. When I reached the summer of my sophomore year, I was at an all-time low. A good friend offered me some advice that changed my life:
gIf you hear something long enough, you begin to believe it. Youfve been told all about your outward eflawsEfor so many years, your perception of yourself has become blurred. Every day you look in the mirror and see what the bullies have told you. Stop seeing illusions. See yourself for who you truly are.E I told myself OUT LOUD that I was beautiful and a special human being.
EProud to Be Me in California
d. Not only do you need to develop an attitude of thanksgiving about yourself as God made you, but realize that as a Christian God is still making you who He wants you to be.
1) You are an unfinished product.
2) God is not satisfied with your gfly off the handleEtemper.
3) God is not satisfied with weak areas of your life where you give in to temptation.
e. Not only give thank for who you are, and who God is making you into, but give thank for this wonderful God who loves you so much He is willing to take you like you are and love you like your are!
2. Second, the God we experience is the One who claims us and takes care of us.
a. The Psalmist says, gWe are the sheep of His pasture.E
1) Most of us want to be the shepherds rather than the sheep.
2) The sad thing is though that we think we know what is best for us, but we donft know where the still waters are, nor do we know where the green pastures lie.
3) Worse than that is the fact that every time we go out searching for them we end up in a mess.
b. Letfs just ease up on the pride and say to the Lord: You are the leader, I am the follower. Just lead me.E
C. This opens up the fifth commandment and makes it simple to obey.
V. The Fifth Command Is gEnter into His gates with thanksgivingE (verse 4a).
A. The ggatesEreferred to are the gates of the O. T. temple.
1. The temple symbolized the presence of God for Israel.
a. Whenever the people came to the temple, they knew that they had come into the presence of God.
b. Of course, that temple no longer exists.
2. However, the place where we meet to worship God is called the "sanctuary."
a. This is indicating that God we believe God is here.
b. We donft have to beg God to be here, we have to recognize that He is already here, ready to meet us!
c. What a wonderful cause for thanksgiving!
B. Letfs recognize something else also: God is everywhere.
1. He is not everything Ethatfs New Age thought that is actually old age thinking.
2. God is Eherefs a $10 theological word for you Eomnipresent.
a. That simply means He is everywhere.
b. He is with you as you drive on the highway.
c. He is with you when you work.
d. He is with you as you care for your children.
e. He is with you every moment of your life.
C. Thatfs why the psalmist says:
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
VI. The Reason For These Five Commands Is Found In Verse 5.
5 For the LORD is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.
A. gThe LORD is goodEproclaims the psalmist.
1. I know the Lord is good, but how often do we end up grumbling rather than giving thanks?
a. We grumble when the Lord sends the sunshine.
b. We grumble when the Lord sends the rain.
c. We grumble about the job God has provided for us.
d. We grumble about our parents or parents grumble about their children.
e. Do you get the picture?
2. The Lord is good, so give Him thanks!
B. gHis mercy is everlasting.E .
1. gMercyEis His gloyal love.E
2. It is His gunfailing love.E
3. It is a reason for our thanksgiving to Him.
C. gHis truth endures to all generations.E E
1. This simply means He keeps His promises.
Conclusion
In her classic autobiography The Hiding Place, Corrie ten Boom tells of the time she and her sister, Betsie, were forced to take off all their clothes during Nazi inspections at a death camp.
Corrie related how she stood in line feeling forsaken and defiled. Suddenly the thought came to her mind that Jesus had hung naked on the cross. A sense of wonder and worship overcame her during that seemingly forsaken moment in that Nazi prison camp. Corrie said she leaned forward and whispered to her sister, "Betsie, they took his clothes, too." Betsie gasped and said, "Oh, Corrie, and I never thanked him."
Thanksgiving does not require bounty--just recognition of what our Savior has already done. Christian thanksgiving occurs in the atmosphere of knowing who God is and how He has affected our lives.
Everything that we are or that we possess is because of Who God is. If you have a revolutionized spiritual life through Christ, it is because of Godfs lovingkindness.
It is good for all of us to pause and say, "Thank You, God."
For more sermons from Pastor Don Walker see the website for Twentieth Street Baptist Church, Huntington, West Virginia www.GoToJesus.org
