Speaker 1: 0:07

I invite you to open your Bibles to Psalm 100 this morning. Psalm 100. We're going to come back to 1 Corinthians after the new year, but we're striding full force into the holiday season and we're going to begin it with Thanksgiving today. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year. It's a wonderful time of year. I think back to my childhood memories. I was blessed to have mom and dad and my five siblings, six cousins, across the street and had both my grandparents within a block and a half, and so we and I had cousins all around in towns surrounding us, and so Thanksgiving was always a feast. I remember my grandma Cole Ravies every year. You know, don't you look forward to the same menu every year? My grandmother's orange marshmallow salad. It was just going to be there and whether I ate it or not, man, it was just so comforting to see it there every year. But we would all gather and we'd tell stories, laugh, it'd be time to eat and we would say the old Catholic prayer bless us, o Lord. These are thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ our Lord, amen. It's a good prayer. And then feast. On the 3,500 calories set before you, I read that was the average number of calories that an American eats at the Thanksgiving dinner. Don't worry about it. It's fine, the new year's coming, we're going to start in January, right? But then you know, after you'd eat you know there'd be the lions and the cowboys and you know the kids playing games. Sometimes we would go out and play in the yard, get our own football game going. But I hope your family memories of Thanksgiving are wonderful, as you were growing up and throughout the years. But we also have a national Thanksgiving heritage which I think is not given enough emphasis today. So I'm going to take a few minutes to share this before we get into Psalm 100 a little bit.

Speaker 1: 2:12

There were actually several Thanksgivings prior to the traditional American Thanksgiving that we learn about or hopefully learn about. In 1541, the Spaniards under Francisco Coronado they celebrated a Thanksgiving feast in what today is the state of Texas. Then in 1564, there was another Thanksgiving feast with the French Huguenot colonists around the area of Jacksonville, Florida, we know. In 1598, around El Paso, texas, juan de Onyada and his expedition that's where they celebrated a Thanksgiving feast. Then, I learned, of course, in 1607, george Pompom and the Abenaki Indians they celebrated up in Maine what's today called Maine a Thanksgiving there. Then that same year, in 1607, the Jamestown settlers they around Cape Henry, virginia. They gave thanks. Twelve years later, in 1619, there was a Thanksgiving celebrated on the Berkeley plantation of Virginia. They gave thanks. Twelve years later, in 1619, there was a Thanksgiving celebrated on the Berkeley plantation of Virginia where it said they thank God for the settlers' safe passage to the new world.

Speaker 1: 3:36

I think the traditional American Thanksgiving the most famous one we'll say is with the pilgrims under Governor William Bradford. Here's a brief story of it. On September 6th 1620, the 102 pilgrims began their voyage from overseas in England and they set sail on a two-month journey on a tossed about at sea here and there and they arrived there at Plymouth Rock in New England. They had a prayer service and because it was a harsh winter already settling in, they built their shelters very quickly. In William Bradford's journal, which I have right here and I want to encourage you to get this and read some of it to your kids and your grandkids but in his journal he spoke about the sea spray coming up on their coats and freezing. Now that's cold folks. We don't know what the tundra is. If this is the tundra, we're in good shape. But by the end of that first winter half of them had died. Half of those 102 had died, including Governor Bradford's wife. It's really a remarkable story.

Speaker 1: 4:47

After the first winter, an Indian named Samoset, he met the pilgrims. What surprised them is he spoke to them in English and he had learned that English from tradesmen and fishermen. Samoset later brought another friend, squanto, to the party. He brought them to meet the pilgrims and Squanto became a Christian. He lived with the pilgrims and he taught the pilgrims a lot of very helpful and useful things, especially on how to grow food in the New World.

Speaker 1: 5:18

Later that year, in the fall of 1621, the pilgrims celebrated that famous Thanksgiving feast that you often hear about and I was delighted to see it was a three-day feast. Who's in favor of a three-day Thanksgiving feast? I told the first service this at least gives us warrant for two days of leftovers. See, that's a wonderful thing. There were 90 Wampanoag Indians. They were joined with 50 pilgrims together. Here's some of the things they ate Shellfish, lobsters, turkey, cornbread, berries, deer and more. That sounds good, sounds good.

Speaker 1: 5:52

The young pilgrim men and Indians. They had races, they did wrestling matches and athletic events and of course, they spent time in prayer. There were friendly Indians to the pilgrims and then there were hostile Indians. They would call the hostile Indians savages, and I tell you that because of a statement I'm about to tell you In the very first official Thanksgiving. It was celebrated on Thursday November 29th 1623,.

Speaker 1: 6:20

Two years later, governor Bradford's proclamation read like this listen In as much as the great father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes and garden vegetables and has made the forest to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and in as much as he has protected us from the ravages of the savages he spared us from pestilence and disease. He has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience. Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house on ye hill between the hours of nine and twelve in that daytime, on Thursday November 29th of the year of our Lord, 1623, and the third year since ye pilgrims landed on ye pilgrim rock there, to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye almighty God for all his blessings.

Speaker 1: 7:25

Thanksgiving was not an annual official national holiday, but President George Washington in the winter of 1777-78, at the lowest and most discouraging point of the Revolutionary War. Some of you have probably seen the famous picture. He's bent knee at Valley Forge, he's pleading for God's mercies in prayer and he's also giving thanks to God Very famous scene. After the Revolutionary War, washington recognized Thanksgiving Day nationally on November 26th 1789. But it wasn't until the proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln after the Civil War that Thanksgiving began to be celebrated annually as a nation. We can thank a woman for that. Her name was Sarah Josepha Hale, 36 years. She worked to try to get the presidents to get with the program on Thanksgiving and she got Lincoln's ear. And so it is. After the Great Depression of the 1930s, just prior to the Second World War, it was established to be observed by FDR on the fourth Thursday of November every year. So there we are Now.

Speaker 1: 8:48

It's caught my attention as I've gone through the history of our Thanksgiving in this country and it's a wonderful heritage that we have. Not every country has that heritage, but this Thanksgiving was given special attention in our history. I want you to know, during times of hardship and suffering, it's one thing to be thankful to God in good times, but even in sorrowful times, in difficult times. It's baked into our heritage to give thanks to God in difficult times. The pilgrims had lost half their crew, their family and friends. They experienced a harsh winter. They were lacking really all earthly security. Governor Bradford had lost his wife. And then, of course, you think about Washington. During what time? The Revolutionary War? Lincoln, during what difficult time? The Civil War.

Speaker 1: 9:40

You think about Thanksgiving getting special attention again after the Great Depression. It's a wonderful thing to give thanks to God even in difficult times. In fact that's the spirit of Psalm 100. It's a beautiful thing to thank God in good times and in bad. So Thanksgiving it has special family memories. I hope for you. We certainly have a wonderful national history with it, but at its core I just want us to remember that Thanksgiving, at its heart, is a religious and spiritual holiday. It's one that can only be truly celebrated with the heart, with faith-filled love and joy in the Lord, the covenant, lord of heaven and earth. A biblical Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1: 10:26

It's not simply a matter of thank yous. Oftentimes we'll teach our kids and rightly so to say thank you, but thanksgiving, biblically speaking, is something more than just good manners A person. It's possible they can say thank you and yet not be really truly grateful in their heart or in their life. They can say thank you and yet not be really truly grateful in their heart or in their life. I remember a young lady in my first pastorate, way back when, and I can still remember her there in South Georgia, and she would always speak so respectfully to her daddy, which she should have. Yes daddy, no daddy. I just noticed her demeanor in front of him was always so respectful. I just noticed her demeanor in front of him was always so respectful, and yet she was living such a rebellious life and disrespecting him so much with her life. Respect with the lips, not respect in the heart and life. God, true thanksgiving. Yes, we say it with our lips, but it's rooted sincerely in the heart.

Speaker 1: 11:26

And so, with that introduction, I'd like to invite you to stand once more, and I'm going to read Psalm 100 to us. This is sometimes called Old 100th. This is an Aaron-inspired word of the living God. Let us receive it with a grateful heart, a psalm for giving thanks. Make a joyful noise to the Lord all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness, come into his presence with singing, know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us, and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name, for the Lord is good, his steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of the Lord endures forever. God's people said Amen. Thank you, you may be seated, father, we once again come to you confessing our dependence upon you for us to be able to richly feast upon your word. Feed our souls, feed your sheep, including the lost ones. Lord, fill us with praise and thanks to the glory of Jesus, by your spirit, amen.

Speaker 1: 12:45

I'm going to have two main points today. The second one's going to have a couple sub points, but there's just going to be two main ones, and the first one is this we're to give thanks and we can give thanks that God's glory and our gladness are bound up together. These two things are not opposed to one another. God's glory and our gladness or joy are not opposed to one another. You see that the superscription of this psalm in verse 1, we see that it's Psalm 100 is a thanksgiving psalm and that's emphasized again down in verse 4. Enter his gates with what, with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, bless his name. One of the best ways we bless God's name is by giving thanks to him. But note how joy-filled and glad true thanksgiving is. True spiritual thanksgiving is bound up with joy and gladness in the heart.

Speaker 1: 13:47

Look at verses one and two. Make a joyful noise to who, to the covenant Lord, that promise-making and promise-keeping God of ours. Make a joyful noise to the covenant Lord, that promise-making and promise-keeping God of ours. Make a joyful noise to the Lord. All the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness, come into his presence with singing.

Speaker 1: 14:07

I could do several sermons just on these verses here. We could do one on world missions, for example. Notice, make a joyful noise to the Lord. Who, all the earth, all the earth. God deserves to be praised by every tribe, tongue, nation and people. No, I could do a sermon on God's glory, for God is the one who is being praised. Make a joyful noise to who, to the Lord, to the covenant Lord, and this one is where we have to understand Psalm 100 in the broader context of the scripture.

Speaker 1: 14:41

But we could do a sermon on the blood atonement of Christ, because I want you to notice here, in these first couple of verses, that sinners are not only invited but commanded by the Holy God to come into his presence, and to come into his presence not with dread, but with singing, with glad and joyful singing. Now think about that. How is it possible for sinners, who deserve condemnation, to come into God's very holy presence with joyful and glad singing? And we know the Bible's answer to that, don't we? We know the Bible's answer because of the Lord, jesus Christ and what he has done for us.

Speaker 1: 15:26

We can only come into God's presence with singing, knowing that the holy and just God loves us. That's how we come in with singing. We know he loves us, that he's not going to condemn us, but he's going to rejoice and be glad that we're in his presence, and it's Christ that makes that possible. We can only come into his presence with singing when we know our sins are forgiven and dealt with and that we're right in his sight. Because of Christ. We can only come into his presence with singing, knowing that we are his, that he is the good shepherd and that we are his, that we're his beloved children and he is our father. I always think of that the picture of John Kennedy's kids crawling around under the desk, happy as could be in the Oval Office, right, he was the president, but he was their daddy and there they were. We can come into God's presence, as great as he is, because he loves us. That's how we come with singing and that's at the heart of worship every Sunday.

Speaker 1: 16:30

Blessed assurance, jesus is mine. Oh, what a foretaste of glory. Divine Heir of salvation, purchase of God born of a spirit washing his blood. Some of you know this hymn. This is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long. You see, how is it? You can come in to God's presence with song when you know he's your savior. When he's not your judge per se or merely your judge, he's your savior. That's what puts a song in the heart of God's people. That's at the heart and core and foundation of all true thanksgiving and thankful living for God.

Speaker 1: 17:14

We hear this same gratitude for God's grace in Psalm 69, verse 30. I will praise what the name of God, the name of God, means. Everything is in his being and everything he does. I will praise the name of God with a song. I will magnify him with thanksgiving. So gladness and our thanksgiving lift high the name of God and his glory at the same time. Just remember our joy and God's glory they go hand in hand. They're not opposed to one another. And that's very important, because sometimes people think well, you know, if I commit myself to the Lord, if I pursue a life about his glory, my joy meter is going to go down to about two or one, maybe three on a good day, and that's not so. Pursuing God's glory, god is telling us in this psalm pursuing his glory and our joy are bound up together. He has designed it so. He is a good God.

Speaker 1: 18:20

Revelation 4, 9,. We see God giving God glory and giving him thanks. They go hand in hand. Where In the worship of heaven? Revelation 4 is one of those few places we get a glimpse into worship in heaven and it reads there and whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to God, who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever. Giving God glory and honor and thanks, that's what the worship of heaven is all about. And so our gladness and God's glory they kiss how they kiss through the thanksgiving and praise we give to God. Our joy and God's glory are bound up with our thanksgiving and praise of him. So give thanks that God's glory and our gladness are together. But second, I want you to notice we're to give thanks to God as creator and redeemer. This psalm is teaching us to give thanks to God as our creator as well as our redeemer. God is a person, he is a personal being. He's not an abstract philosophical concept. Abstract philosophical concept.

Speaker 1: 19:42

I once read an article by Al Mohler where he said imagine an atheist Thanksgiving. Now, an atheist can be thankful for another person, or they can be thankful for things in their life, but to be thankful, and that's good and that is good as far as it goes. We don't, we don't want to mock that, but true thanksgiving. I want us to see the thanksgiving of psalm 100 and the thanksgiving of the bible, the thanksgiving of heaven itself, the thanksgiving of saving faith and the thanksgiving of the heritage of our country and the faith in the Bible, the thanksgiving of God's people. It's thankfulness to God. It's thankfulness to God that's its defining characteristic. It's thankfulness to him for working through other people, even for life itself. In other words, thankfulness is not simply a man-centered attitude, it's God-centered worship. It's God-centered worship even when we're thankful for other people in our life. A Christian understands that all good things come from above, even the love and kindnesses of other people.

Speaker 1: 20:57

Kevin DeYoung makes a good observation he says if you notice in the introductions of the apostle Paul's 13 New Testament letters, nine of them, nine of the 13, are giving thanks for those who receive the letter, and you'll notice these are the different kinds of things Paul gives thanks to or for. He was thankful for their faith. He was thankful for their love for other saints within the church and out. He was thankful for their steadfastness through very difficult times. He was thankful for their spiritual gifts and how they were using them building up the body of Christ. He was thankful for their partnership in the gospel, financially and in other practical ways. He was thankful for their history together and their mutual affection for one another. Paul was thankful for them to God. He was thankful for them to God because all things come from God. What was happening is Paul has seen the evidence of God's love and grace working powerfully in their lives, and it made Paul joyful and happy was spilled out over into thanks to God for them.

Speaker 1: 22:11

And so how do we increase the joy of a local church? Well, of course it's a blessing from God, but one of the ways as much as it depends upon us that we can do that is we can be about having a stronger faith and a greater love for the saints and being steadfast through difficult times and using our spiritual gifts to build up other Christians and partnering with one another and other folks for the cause of the gospel and for celebrating our mutual affection and love for one another and deepening that affection in practical ways. And so we're to be thankful to God. That's the key here. But thankful to God is our creator. Thankful to God is our creator.

Speaker 1: 23:04

Look at verse three. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us and we are his. That's a reason for praise, god. Think of his being. He's overflowing in love and joy. He's absolutely and totally self-sufficient. He needs nothing. He has absolute satisfaction in the center of his being. He's holy, and yet out of the abundance and the pure delight and satisfaction of his being he created you. He didn't need you. Out of a heart that was full to the brim, he created you in love. You're fearfully and wonderfully made. You are made by God. Paul reminded in his preaching some in Athens in Acts 17,. He puts it like this the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is served by human hands as though he needed anything. Since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything, he doesn't need to be served by human hands as though he needed anything. He is served by human hands in one sense, but it's not as though God needs anything. And yet he created us. He's worthy to be praised for just giving us life.

Speaker 1: 24:48

Paul, who was preaching here, was a former Pharisee. He was very proud he was formerly proud and very self-righteous of his accomplishments. He was proud of his earthly medals and all of his religious honors. He says so in the scriptures. You see it in Philippians 3, for example. But now he is saved by grace. Now he's saved by God's grace, and now he realized that the true God is not served by human hands. He's not doing God a favor by serving God, because God doesn't need anything. Rather, all things come from him Life, breath, everything, including even our faith in God, our love in our hearts for other people and the grace that fuels our good works, anything good that we do. Even that comes from God and is made possible by God. And so the same apostle Paul in Romans 11 says or who has given a gift to the Lord that he might be repaid for. From him and through him and to him are all things. That's about as comprehensive as it gets, isn't it? From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever, amen. What's the purpose of everything? The glory of God. That's why it's foolishness to think that we can earn or merit our salvation. That's not possible. Why? Because all good things come from him. We are saved by God's grace through the gift of saving faith alone in Jesus Christ, alone in Jesus and his good works alone.

Speaker 1: 26:35

The apostle Paul speaks of the wickedness and the demonic nature of discounting or forbidding the enjoyment of the good things of God's creation. He says this to Timothy why? Because it keeps us from being thankful for things that are God's good gifts to us. And when we're not thankful for God's good gifts, it robs God of his glory. It robs God of his glory. Paul warned Timothy in the fourth chapter, 1 Timothy, that there were false teachers going around forbidding certain things. They were forbidding, for example, marriage, and they were requiring a certain abstinence from certain foods. And they weren't doing this for health reasons, they were doing this for spiritual reasons. And so Paul saying that that kind of teaching comes from the devil. And here's what he says, because everything created by God is good and nothing's to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, for it is made holy by the word of God in prayer. It's made holy by the word of God simply because God proclaims it, and it's made holy by prayer because we're seeking God's blessing upon it to nourish us that we can serve him well.

Speaker 1: 27:52

We live in an age of intemperance and gluttony. We live in an age of the exaltation of the self, where I don't think there's too many bestsellers at Barnes and Noble how to die to yourself. It's interesting when you read Calvin's Institutes, he defined the Christian life fundamentally as one of self-denial. But we have a misconception. You see, psalm 100 is reminding us that self-denial is actually the path to joy. We just don't understand that. It's not natural for us to put those together. But at any rate, we live in a time of intemperance and gluttony.

Speaker 1: 28:35

One of the ways that I think it's reflected in the church is the church doesn't fast. We as Christians don't fast like we used to in centuries past. Every generation of Christians has its own sins and weaknesses. I think one of ours is we're not as big on self-denial or denying ourself, and we see that with fasting. But sometimes people overcorrect with a weakness. Well, the way you're going to do it is you're going to start making up rules over here that are unbiblical, and so we don't want to ever correct our weakness by making God a scrooge. God is not a scrooge. We don't correct our weakness by discounting the goodness of God in a proper place for feasting and rejoicing in the Lord with that feasting. There's always going to be people that abuse God's, the freedom that God gives us and his goodness, that God gives us and his goodness.

Speaker 1: 29:34

But there are some who not only abuse it on the one end of perhaps thinking too much of food and then partaking of it. There are those on the other end that are thinking too much of food and almost too restrictive. They can't do anything without counting a calorie to the point where it's obsessive. And I just want you to say our culture condemns this one over here and it sort of elevates this as a virtue over here. I'm not saying we should never count our calories. That's not what I'm saying, and I think I can get an amen on that. I'm not saying never count your calories. What I'm saying is it's possible.

Speaker 1: 30:11

Historically, theologians understood that to be gluttonous is not just eating too much, it's thinking too much about the food in our body in a sinful way. You can actually be skinny and gluttonous. That may surprise many people, but that's actually possible. Why am I saying that? Because there's a time for everything under the sun. There's a time for fasting and calorie counting and there's a time for feasting and celebration.

Speaker 1: 30:41

Remember the old covenant times where the Jews were required by God. They were commanded by God. Now this is a command. I'm going to command you to go to Jerusalem every year three times for a full week, and what you're going to do there is you're going to feast and worship me. What a rough God we serve. Think about the glory of those feasts. How different God is from the taskmasters of the pharaohs of Egypt that they were under in slavery for 400 years.

Speaker 1: 31:15

Our God wants us to be joyful. Read through the Upper Room, discourse in the Gospel of John and see how Jesus several times says that your joy may be full, that your joy may be full. I tell you these things that your joy may be full. May be full. God wants us to be happy. Our Lord understood there would be times that there would be undue hardship upon his people, and so one of the provisions and he does it in Deuteronomy 14, you can read it there start with verse 22 and beyond.

Speaker 1: 31:46

But in Deuteronomy 14, he realized you know, I know it's a command for my people to come to Jerusalem every year three times for a week long worship and feasting time together. But you know there's going to be times where that's not possible. Maybe somebody's the only person caring for their elderly parent and that parent can't travel. So God understands that, and you could think of other examples where someone might not be able to make such a trip. You know, if they lived in Northern Israel or whatever the case may be. So God, in that kind of a case, in Deuteronomy 14, says if that's you and you can't make it, here's what you do Take your tithe money and you quote spend money.

Speaker 1: 32:26

Spend the money on whatever your appetite craves and you shall eat there before the Lord, your God, and rejoice you and your household. Spend the money on whatever your appetite craves. Now I'm not telling you to take your tithe and spend it on everything your appetite craves. That's not the point. The point is, god says, I want you to feast right where you are and worship me, and that money you would have spent going to Jerusalem and offering to the Lord. You serve God right there and you feast and some of the things he listed you can whatever your appetite craves, whether it's oxen or sheep, wine or even strong drink. Yeah. Now are there people that abuse the latter part of that? Yes, some should never have alcohol because there's an issue there. But you don't correct an abuse with a prohibition for everybody.

Speaker 1: 33:25

The wisdom for one is not necessarily the best for all. God wanted his people to celebrate, and so we're to be thankful to God as our creator, but also, secondly, as our redeemer. We're to thank him not only as our creator, but also as our redeemer. Look at verse three. Know that the Lord, he is good. It is he who made us and we are his. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Here the Lord's pictured with the shepherd metaphor and we are the sheep of his pasture Psalm 23,. What a shepherd we have.

Speaker 1: 33:59

Listen, I think every time I read this it lowers my blood pressure about 20 points. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want stick another piece of turkey on your plate, right. When you think about that, go ahead, it's okay, just do it. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. Go ahead, put some more mashed potatoes on there. God is good. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his namesake, that is, for his glory. You see, he gives me grace so that I can have, glorify him and be filled with joy. You see, that's the connection. Yes, I think I will have some pumpkin pie when I think about that.

Speaker 1: 35:04

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff. They comfort me. Bring out the cool whip, Put it on there. You see, this is the idea. We're not just going to eat a bunch of food we're feasting in, thanks to the goodness of God. This is what God wants us to do.

Speaker 1: 35:35

His rod, what was that for? You see, even in the valley of the shadow of death, he's with us. He may take us into the valley of the shadow of death. He's with us. He may take us into the valley of the shadow of death, and for each one of us, eventually we'll be there. But his rod is there to defend us against all of our enemies, including the enemy within which is sin. Aren't you glad that our shepherd protects us, even from ourself? He is good.

Speaker 1: 35:58

Satan wanted to sift the apostle peter like wheat, but jesus took out his rod, his rod of prayer, and he prayed for jesus, or for for peter rather. And peter was saved, he was protected. And then you have jesus with staff, which he disciplines us because we're prone to wander, and so he lovingly disciplines us back into the fold, and he uses a staff also to care for us. But one of the most wonderful pictures of a shepherd and a staff in the ancient world is this is how a shepherd would count his sheep. It's how he knew they were all accounted for. And so, even when we're in the valley of the shadow of death, is there anything more comforting to God's people than to know that we are accounted for in Christ? He has us in his number. I hope you're thankful this morning for that.

Speaker 1: 37:00

Psalm 23,. Wonderful Thanksgiving psalm written by David. David, a man had so many painful trials in his life, just like the pilgrims that came to America, went through suffering and hardship, and yet hear his grateful heart. You prepare a table before me where, in the presence of my enemies, even in difficult times, david could see the blessings and the goodness of God. He had eyes of faith. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Can you say this morning that your cup overflows with the goodness of God? We see that goodness most supremely in the cross of Christ, where Jesus, the good shepherd, laid down his life for the sheep. He died for our sins that we could be forgiven, be reconciled with God, be declared righteous in his sight and live with God forever. With God, be declared righteous in his sight and live with God forever. And this is, I think, why they put Psalm 22, the crucifixion Psalm, right before Psalm 23, the shepherd Psalm, because the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He is good.

Speaker 1: 38:13

Hebrews 13, 15,. Through the Lord Jesus, then let us continually offer up what A sacrifice of praise. That's what our life is to be about, a sacrifice of praise to God. And then notice, think about Jesus. How much he suffered but yet he was so thankful the son of God, jesus. He was thankful to the father. Matthew 11, I thank you, father, that you have hidden these things of the kingdom of heaven from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.

Speaker 1: 38:46

John 6, jesus miraculously feeds the 5,000, but in verse 11, it was not until Jesus had given thanks that he distributed the bread and the fish to those hungry souls awaiting. You can go to John 11 and you see another example. His friend Lazarus had been dead for four days. Jesus prayed for him and was about to raise him from the dead, but he lifted his eyes once more to heaven and verse 41 says Father, I thank you that you have heard me. And then he said to Lazarus come, come forth, lazarus. And he did, and out of that grave he came. And if the Lord tarries one day he'll say come forth to us and out of that grave we will come. That's why he said I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die yet, he shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Thank God that Jesus Christ is the Lord over life and death and the grave.

Speaker 1: 39:48

In Matthew 26, we read that at the last supper. Jesus not only blessed the bread, but he said he took the cup and when he'd what Given thanks, then he gave it to the disciples, saying drink of it all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant. He's giving thanks to God and he describes the cup as the blood of his covenant. What a great God we have. What a great shepherd. It's poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins, he says. You see, this is the spirit of Psalm 100, a Psalm forgiving thanks. I want to end this way this morning.

Speaker 1: 40:22

The Continental Congress, 1777. There were two signers of the declaration that were responsible for this Samuel Adams and Richard Henry Lee. Congress had recommended a day of thanksgiving and praise, so that quote the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts and join their supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to forgive our sins and to enlarge his kingdom, which consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy. In the Holy Ghost. The Virginia Governor, thomas Jefferson, 1779. I appoint a day of public thanksgiving to Almighty God to ask him that he would pour out his Holy Spirit on all ministers of the gospel and that he would spread the light of Christian knowledge to the remotest corners of the earth and that he would establish these United States upon the basis of religion and virtue. Massachusetts, governor John Hancock, don't you? I wish I could have a signature like his, proclaimed in 1790,. I appoint a day of public thanksgiving and praise to render to God the tribute of praise for his unmerited goodness towards us by giving to us the holy scriptures which are enabled to enlighten and make us wise to eternal salvation, and to present our supplications that he would forgive our manifold sins and cause the benign religion of our Lord and Savior, jesus Christ, to be known, understood and practiced among all the inhabitants of the earth. You see, serve the Lord all the earth.

Speaker 1: 41:55

Last one 1863, is during the darkest days of the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation in that year, just the year before he had lost his second son. This second one was named Willie. It broke his heart. He battled very deep depression. Lincoln did, but here's what he wrote in 1863. The year that's drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessing of fruitful fields and healthful skies.

Speaker 1: 42:27

To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary in nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. No human counsel hath devised, nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. We have a lot to be thankful for, don't we? If you have a lot to be thankful for this morning to God, give me an amen. Verse 5, why? Because the Lord is good. His steadfast love endures forever and His faithfulness to all generations. Aren't you glad that he never changes? The Lord is good, he will always be good, and those who know Him we can testify he is most certainly good to us. Let's pray.