Did you notice who the author was of the hymn
we just sang? It was the great poet John Milton.
The words have been somewhat altered, but it
was interesting to sing his music this morning.
I enjoy singing hymns like that where we sing
part of it and the choir sings part of it. The
antiphonal response, I think, is a very interesting
thing to do. And it's something that we believe
was practiced quite frequently in the Jewish
worship. And so it's something that I think kind
of puts us in touch with some of our biblical
roots. The choir sang for us as we opened the
service this morning our text which is Psalm
100. As we think about the thankful one. We live
in one of the few countries in the world where
a day is set aside officially as a time of Thanksgiving.
It's a proper tradition, although I think we
have to sadly admit that for many today it has
become only Turkey Day or a day for an overdose
of football. Some states, such as the state of
New York, set aside the day annually for Thanksgiving.
as early as the first part of the 19th century.
The tradition of Thanksgiving goes all the way
back to the days of the colonies and the pilgrims
who were God -fearing men and women in a new
world. It was, however, Abraham Lincoln who,
as president, first proclaimed a national day
for Thanksgiving in 1863. He did so in the midst
of the fury of the Civil War. And every president
since Lincoln has followed that example and proclaimed
a day of thanksgiving, and most often it has
been the fourth Thursday of the month of November.
Of course, as God's people, it is fitting that
we should observe that day in our culture, not
merely as a cultural symbol, however, but as
a spiritual privilege. For the attitude of gratitude
should be one that characterizes us continually,
shouldn't it, in our earthly pilgrimage. This
Psalm, 100, this Psalm is the most beloved of
all of the Thanksgiving Psalms. It instructs
us to be a grateful people, and I believe we
need to learn its lessons. I see at least two
lessons about thanksgiving in the psalm. In the
first place, how to be thankful, and secondly,
why. Follow along with me please as we think
about this theme. In verses one through three,
we are taught how to be grateful. We are given
to understand the permeating nature of a grateful
heart. A grateful heart is like a perfume that
fills every room. It affects every area of one's
life. You will notice that there are four words
of admonition in those first three verses. Shout,
serve, come, and know. I believe that God is
telling us in these verses that If we're going
to be grateful, we need to remember that gratitude
involves in the first place the tongue. Make
a joyful noise or shout, he says, to the Lord.
The word shout is a jubilant cry. It is the sound
as a cheer of loyal citizens as the king might
appear. or to put it into our own society and
culture, it is the sound that one might hear
in the Metrodome when the Vikings come on the
field. I have only been to one Vikings game,
but I want to tell you that is some kind of a
roar. When those Vikings come onto the field,
that whole place begins to shake with the sound
of it, the shout of the people cheering on the
team. Well, it is that same kind of an idea,
the same kind of a joyful noise, that God has
in mind when He tells us that we are to shout
joyfully to the Lord all the earth. I did not
get to go to the concert of prayer a week ago.
I'm sorry about that. Some 80 of you did, and
I'm glad it was a group of some 10 ,000 I've
heard who were there to pray that evening. I
know that the year before, one of the things
that we did that I have never done before was
to shout to the Lord. Did they do that this year?
They did. I think that is a neat experience.
We have a room here big enough to do it, but
I'm not brave enough to do it this morning. But
to shout to the Lord. The idea is a very expansive
sound. I think you would agree with me the gratitude
that is unexpressed is gratitude that's under
suspicion. For if it's genuine, it must be communicated.
We are told as the people of God, even in the
New Testament, that this is an appropriate thing
for us to do. I just invite you to think with
me about Hebrews chapter 13. If you want to turn
there, you may. We'll look at it just briefly.
But in the 15th verse of this 13th chapter, notice
what he says. Through him, through Christ then,
let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise
to God. That is, the fruit of lips that give
thanks to His name." Notice it's not just the
fruit of the heart or the fruit of the attitude,
but it says the fruit of the lips. Gratitude
involves the tongue. And as New Testament believers,
we are to be involved in offering up words from
our mouths to God as a sacrifice to Him. There
is no more noble use of the tongue. than to employ
it in thanksgiving to God. Our tongues tell a
lot about us, don't they? When I was fighting
this virus that I've been fighting now for about
three weeks, I went to the doctor and as he went
through a brief exam of my condition, one of
the things he told me to do was to stick out
my tongue. It's not that my tongue is exceptionally
beautiful and he wanted to admire it. But he
did want to examine it because he knew that by
looking at my tongue he could tell something
about what's going on behind it, down in my throat
you see. Our tongues tell something about our
physical condition. And is it not true that our
tongues also say something about our soul condition?
When our hearts are filled with gratitude to
God, our tongues cannot help but speak it. So
gratitude involves the tongue. But gratitude
also involves the hands. Notice he says, serve
the Lord. Serve the Lord with gladness. It is
good to speak our praise to the Lord. It is good
in our public worship to speak our thanksgiving
to him. But that speech has to be followed by
something of our actions. And again, the writer
of Hebrews makes this clear. Listen to the words
in the very next verse after the one we read.
and do not neglect doing good and sharing with
such sacrifices God has pleased. And so he says
that as much as we are to offer our thanks to
God with our lips, our hands must be involved.
We're to be involved in doing deeds of love and
kindness. Actions from our lives should speak
gratitude to the Lord. Thankfulness motivates
us, does it not, to do something in response
to the one that we're grateful. It energizes
us. It awakens our sensibilities to do something.
Someone does something kind for you. Perhaps
you have had need of a meal being brought to
your house for some reason. And some folks in
your flock or in your small church have brought
over that food and, oh my, you're so thankful
for that. It came at just the right time and
so you say thank you at the door. But then as
you eat the food and as perhaps you wash up the
dishes and you think, what a very special thing
this was. And so you are motivated perhaps to
sit down and even write a note. You do something.
That's the point. We are to not only speak our
praise to God, we are out of gratitude to serve
Him, to do things for Him. Not in order to receive
His gifts, but because we have received His gifts.
And we are to serve Him, it says here, with gladness.
Not with reluctance. We're not to serve Him half
-heartedly. We're not to serve with regret or
with a grudge. We're not to serve Him with resignation
because, well, I have to. But whatever we do,
we are to do with gladness to the Lord out of
gratitude. It means if I teach a Sunday school
class or sing in the choir or if I work in the
nursery or if I'm an usher, I am to do that with
gladness to the Lord. Not because Paul Bartlett
has put his hand on my shoulder and said, look,
we need help in the nursery. And he may do that.
And he's right. But why do I do that? Well, for
him in one sense maybe, but beyond that, far
beyond that for the Lord. Out of gladness to
the Lord. That's why we serve Him. And why is
it that I type those letters on Monday morning?
Why is it that I go out and make my sales calls?
Or I sit in my office and I make the decisions
that I have to? Or as an accountant I write down
those figures? Or work before my computer? Why
is it that I do all of those things? Day by day,
8 hours a day, or 10 hours, or 12 hours a day,
out of gratitude? Gratitude to the Lord? You
see, whatever we do, we're to do it for that
reason. Paul puts it this way in Colossians 3
.17. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all
in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks
through Him to God the Father. Well, somebody
says, yeah, I'm supposed to give thanks, but
you don't know this person I've got to work with.
I mean, if you had to work with that person,
you'd find it pretty hard to give thanks, too.
Well, it may be that you have a difficult working
situation, but can't you sift through that somewhere
and find something to be grateful to God for?
Can't you be grateful that that person takes
an hour break at lunch and leaves you alone?
Can't you be grateful that you work overtime
and at least there's an hour of quietness after
that person's gone? Look, sift through your circumstances.
Whatever they be, find something there to give
thanks to God. Give thanks to God you have a
job. We have people in our church who have been
praying for months for jobs and have yet to find
one. We are to serve the Lord with thanksgiving.
Gratitude involves our hands, but gratitude also
involves our feet. Notice he says, come. Come
before Him with joyful singing." I believe that
this applies to corporate worship. Certainly
it did to the writer of this psalm as he thought
about the Jewish people coming to the temple.
How can we claim to be grateful to God for His
blessings in our lives and yet fail to come before
His presence? the way that we're invited to here,
with joyful singing. Gathering with other believers
is important for all of us. I know it's true
that we can worship at home and we ought to worship
at home. And I've had people tell me, well, I
may not go to church, but I worship God out in
the woods, out of my backyard watching the birds
on Sunday morning or whatever. Sure, you can
worship God doing that, but it does not. take
the place of corporate worship. Yes, I know salvation
is individual, that's true, but that salvation
that is individual results in a relationship
to other people. There is a place for coming
together with others, come before his presence,
come before him with joyful singing, it says
here. Francis Schaeffer said, Salvation is individual
but not individualistic. People cannot become
Christians except one at a time and yet our salvation
is not solitary. God's people are called together
in community. God tells us if we are a grateful
people it involves our feet. We need to come
together and come together faithfully to worship
Him. in the congregation. And we are to do that
with joyful singing. I wonder what that suggests
about our worship, about our attitude in coming,
about our involvement in the service itself.
Come before Him with joyful singing. It's interesting
to look out of the congregation. when we're singing.
It's probably doubly interesting to look up here.
But it's interesting to look out and to see those
faces that are just shining. The eyes are lit
up and the mouth tends to be curved here at the
edges. And you can tell that from the heart that
person is entering into those words, that that
really means something to them. I tell you, that
blesses me. We are to come before the Lord as
a body of people joyfully and enter into the
service and sing and participate in it. That's
what worship is all about. As the hymn writer
said, let those refuse to sing who never knew
our God. But children of the heavenly King may
speak their joys abroad. God wants us to enter
into the celebration of corporate worship. I
want to encourage you to be regular in corporate
worship. And not to allow little things, little
excuses to keep you away. If you're grateful
to God, that must involve your feet. It means
coming to worship together. I remember a lady
who was so faithful in this. She's now with the
Lord. She was a widow. And even before that,
her husband didn't come with her to church. When
I first became pastor of that church, she had
been present in Sunday school and in church every
Sunday for 25 years. You say, well she must have
lived around the corner. No. No. As a matter
of fact, during the last part of her life, she
moved to a place about 30 miles away. And during
that time she was alone. And during the 10 years
that I was there as pastor, she never missed
a single Sunday in Sunday school and in church.
I mean there wasn't an excuse to keep her away.
If she was sick, she would come. She would infect
other people, but she would be there. She would
be there. 35 years, we honored her when that
occasion came, for 35 years of perfect attendance.
And you think about that, that's longer than
some of you are old. She did not miss. She was
faithful. She knew the importance of coming together.
Well, as she got older, it became impossible
for her to keep up that record. But oh, I thank
God for her. What an example she set for all
of us of faithfulness in coming to worship. God
says if we are grateful, it's going to involve
our tongues, it's going to involve our hands,
and it's going to involve our feet, but he tells
us also it involves our mind. He says, no, the
Lord. You see, gratitude is not a mere fleeting
emotion. Gratitude is based upon intelligence.
It is a deep inner acceptance of truth that is
acknowledged to be true. And therefore we're
grateful. We are to know the one that we worship
and why we worship Him. He tells us in the first
place that we are to know the Lord is God. That
is, that there is no other God, that He is unique.
He is uniquely and infinitely perfect and yet
a personal being. who is self -existent and self
-sufficient. He himself is the source of all
that is. He says that when we give thanks to
God, we are to know that God is not one God among
many. That His truth is not one truth, but it's
the truth. Today we are told by those new agers
around us that we're all gods. and that we all
have the Christ principle within us and we can
develop our deity, our divinity, and be gods.
That's the same mess that Satan sold to Eve back
in the Garden of Eden. We are not gods, we are
creatures. We are made. We are finite. We have
limitations, but God doesn't. He is not created.
There is no limitation to Him. He is infinite.
He is God. We're to know that. We're also to
know that He is the Creator. Know that the Lord
Himself is God. It is He who has made us. That
is, it is He who gives us life and breath. Our
lives are derived. God's life is not. By way
of application, I think we can say this too,
that all the success and all of the prosperity
and the produce of our lives also comes from
God. It is He who has made us. There are some
people who brag that they are self -made, and
usually when they brag that, they adore their
Creator. You think about that. We are not self
-made. But it is he who has made us and not we
ourselves We are to know also that the Lord is
the owner it says We are his people his people
by right of creation But also his people by right
of redemption those of us who are Christians
We are his chosen people his people singled out
from all the peoples of the earth to be especially
His, uniquely His. The thought in this implies
that there's a difference between His people
whom we are and all of the rest. That's true.
Can you be grateful that God is your possessor
today? Know that, but also know that the Lord
is shepherd. Because we are the sheep of his
pasture, the psalmist says. God provides our
pasture, that is our provision for our needs.
The picture in the psalmist's mind may well be
of the Jews as they would come streaming into
the temple compound and into the temple itself.
Like a flock of sheep, they came. Hearing the
voice of their shepherd, telling them to come
and to worship him. We are the sheep of his pasture,
and now he sees them in his mind's eye, coming
into the fold of God to worship him. We are his
sheep also, and the Lord is our shepherd. As
we worship, our worship must involve our minds.
There has to be some intelligence there. We are
to know that the Lord is God. We are to know
that he is the creator, that he is the owner,
and that he is our shepherd. And as we know those
things, as those truths sink down deep into our
hearts, then we will have our gratitude stimulated.
How are we to give gratitude? How are we to be
grateful? Number one, by joyful words. Shout
joyfully. By glad service. Serve the Lord, he
says, with gladness. Also by joyfully gathering
to worship. Come before him. And finally, by
full understanding of his uniqueness and of that
special relationship that God has between himself
and his own. We are to know he is God and that
we are his people. And so the psalmist instructs
us how to be grateful. But we're also instructed
why to be grateful, verses four and five. He
basically gives us two reasons here. In the first
place, because of the privilege of access. And
then secondly, because of the person of God.
Why are we to be grateful? Because of the privilege
of entering in. I especially like the arrangement
the choir did this morning of Psalm 100 and the
way that they did the word enter. Did you notice
that? And how it built and resounded, echoed
back and forth, enter, enter, enter, enter, enter.
What a privilege you and I have to enter. That
is not to be taken for granted. We can enter
His gates because He has opened the way for us
through the sacrifice of Christ. that one final
sacrifice once and for all. This psalm is a psalm
of invitation. It says, enter his gates. Notice
it is addressed to all the earth, verse 1. You
and I have the privilege of inviting others to
join us in entering the gates of the Lord. We
must ever be mindful that there are many who
do not know the narrow way. They do not perceive
the narrow gate that must be entered. They've
already entered the broad gate and are on the
broad way that leads to destruction. But Jesus
tells us there will be a few who will find that
narrow gate and enter the narrow way that leads
to life. And you and I have the privilege of
inviting people to come to that gate. Enter,
he says, his gates with thanksgiving. People
have the idea, generally, in the world that they
can worship God in their own way. They look upon
our faith as one of many gates. Oh, there are
many ways, many roads to God, they say. And how
pleasant that sounds to the human ear. But how
false it is. It is not consistent with what God
tells us is the truth. There's one way. His gates.
Not many gates, God's gates. You and I can invite
others to enter what a privilege of access we
have. To enter that gate and to invite others
to come. We need to be grateful for that. That
access to God. But also because of the person
of God. He says, give thanks to Him. Bless His
name. For the Lord is good. That's what God is
like. You look at the gods that the heathen worship.
You go visit the Linettis and Taliabu. Or you
visit others who work with tribal people, and
you find inevitably their gods are angry gods
who have to be appeased by some kind of sacrifice,
be it human or whatever. They are gods who are
not good. They are evil gods that have to be
avoided or placated in some way. For the true
God is not that way. How grateful we ought to
be for that truth. That the Lord is good. And
notice there are two words that describe His
goodness. They are loving kindness and faithfulness.
Loving kindness means God's loyal love. Our God
is a God who loves. Not arbitrarily. Not discriminately.
But He is a God who loves broadly. He loves all.
And He is a God who loves loyally. He talks about
God's love here that is involved in the relationship
between two people. God's loving kindness. Be
thankful that God is good and loving and that
He's faithful. We sometimes sing the chorus,
Jesus never fails. Heaven and earth may pass
away, but Jesus never fails. Or we sing, Great
is thy faithfulness, O God my Father. Great is
thy faithfulness. Morning by morning new mercies
I see. All I have needed thy hand has provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me. God
doesn't fail. That's the kind of a God he is.
Why should you and I be thankful? Because of
the privilege God has given us to enter His gates.
He has thrown the door open by the sacrifice
of Jesus. We may enter by that new and living
way that Christ has opened for us by His sacrifice.
Be thankful. And why should we be thankful? Because
of the kind of a God. that we're talking about.
A God who is good and in His goodness He loves
people, desires to be related to them. He is
a God who is faithful and will not fail, though
we may fail. He does not. And His goodness, His
faithfulness are both everlasting. From generation
to generation it's true. It was true of our fathers
and our grandfathers' generation. And it will
be true of our children and their children, if
the Lord tarries. He is a God who is forever
good. Unalterably, forever, He is that way. Well,
Psalm 100 is an instructive psalm, but the fact
is, really, the fact is that most of us don't
need more instruction about being thankful. We
don't need more orders to be thankful. What we
need is obedience to be thankful. We don't need
more information really. What we need is inspiration
to do what we know we ought to do, to do what
we know is right. This morning you and I have
a choice. We have a choice to either be grateful
or to be grumblers. We have a choice to be thankful
to God or to be complainers and to be greedy
and selfish I Remind you that the latter is the
choice of most people Especially as the age goes
on because it tells us in the Bible in last days
men should be lovers of themselves covetous unthankful
Elizabeth Elliott wrote about that some time
ago in one of her newsletters. She said, we do
have someone, capital S, to thank and a long
list of things to thank him for, but, she goes
on to say, I have been thinking of something
that stifles thanksgiving. It is the spirit of
greed, the greed of doing, being. and having.
You know she's right. It's so easy for us to
succumb to the pressures of our world, to be
greedy about our doing. To say we're going to
do what we want to do, what benefits us the most,
what is most rewarding. To be greedy about our
doing and not care what God wants us to do. Or
to neglect it, at least. And it's easy for us
to be greedy about our being. We succumb to the
world's pressure to want to be what is best for
us as we view it. We want to improve our own
lifestyle. And we get discontent with the roles
that God has given us. And as a result of that
greed of being We miss out on the peace that
comes from being just who God's made us to be,
and fail to realize that our greatest fulfillment
is just being who God has created us to be. That
was the mistake of Grandmother Eve. And she's
right about the greed of having too, isn't she?
Like all the rest of the people in our generation,
we want to possess. We want what will enrich
us. We want that which will make the neighbors
notice. And the result of that kind of a lifestyle
is that we fail to learn the joy of contentment
into the things that God has given us. There's
a great story about Matthew Henry. In fact, it's
one of my favorite stories. Matthew Henry, as
you probably know, was a famous scholar of the
Bible. There's a commentary that he authored.
On one occasion he was mugged. They didn't call
it that back in those days, but that's what it
was. He was robbed and mugged and beaten. After
that, he wrote in his diary these words. Let
me be thankful. Let me be thankful first, because
I was never robbed before. Okay? Second, although
they took my purse, they did not take my life.
Third, because although they took my all, it
was not much. And fourth, because it was I who
was robbed and not I who robbed. Profound, isn't
it? Somebody has said gratitude is like a guardrail.
That's a great thought, I think. Because when
you and I are grateful, it puts up guardrails
on the road of life. Guardrails that will keep
us and our children from slipping and sliding
off the road and making a wreck of life. If we
allow greedy complaining attitudes to dominate
us. It removes the guardrails. If we allow ourselves
to become intoxicated with selfishness and to
get drunk on ingratitude, the result is that
we will go off the road and will injure ourselves
and injure others. Oh, we need the guardrails.
Above all, It is right to be thankful just because
it's right. Yes, it establishes guardrails that
help protect us and protect our children, but
it's just right to be thankful. And that's what
this psalmist says. Oh, may we be a grateful
people today. What's your choice? What's your
choice? Will you be grateful? Let's bow together.
Well, I wonder just where you're seated if you
would say to the Lord, Lord, I will be grateful.
I will enter in. Lord, I today repent of ingratitude.
Maybe we need to say that. Lord, today I turn
away from the greed and the selfishness and those
covetous attitudes. Maybe we need to say, Lord,
put that guardrail up in my life that will keep
me from wrecking. Let's talk to the Lord about
where you are, won't you? Father, I pray that
this morning our hearts will respond to the wooing
of the Holy Spirit and the teaching of the Spirit
in this psalm. And may we not only accept this
as good information, but may we be inspired to
do what the psalmist tells us to do because we
are so blessed. In Jesus' name, amen.