With Independence Day just behind us a couple of days, I thought it would be interesting to look back just a little bit further to the spring of 1621. On April 5thof that year the little band of pilgrims watched as the Mayflower sailed away back to its home in England . Even though the group had lost about half of its original members, not a person that had survived chose to return on that ship. They were dedicated to staying in the New World .
Those 50 or so men, women and children had come to the New World for freedom; specifically freedom of religion and they paid a huge price for that freedom. They had suffered incredible hardships to gain that freedom but they understood the fact that whatever security is lost that an equal amount of freedom is gained. It works both ways, by the way. Gaining security will always cost an equal amount of liberty and freedom.
But the little group paid the price and made it through a most difficult winter and summer but the fall brought a great harvest. So they got on the phone and called a few of their closest Indian friends and said, "Hey, we're having a party over here by Plymouth Rock. Y'all ought to come." And so began what we now call the holiday of "Thanksgiving".
They had endured starvation, frost, Indian attacks, disease and wild animals and had lost many friends and family members over the past year but they had gotten to the point where they could see through the difficulty and see that God was at work in their midst. And what did they do? They had a celebration to just say, "Thank you, Lord."
It didn't mean that they were through with their difficulties at all. And they knew that. It just meant that they could see and appreciate God's hand of mercy on their lives even in the middle of the difficulty. And what they did was biblical and right. And I find it hard to believe that it was a coincidence that this little group of folks had a feast of thanksgiving. They did it because they wanted to but they also knew that it was biblical. These were godly men who were educated by and through the Bible and they knew what the Bible said about the importance of giving thanks.
It was because men like William Bradford and William Brewster had read what King David wrote in our text this morning in the book of Psalms that they decided to take time out of their busy lives to just give thanks and honor to the One who provided everything they needed. And some of those people didn't survive that harsh winter. We often repeat around here our version of what Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego said to the king who was about to throw them in the furnace.
We say, "I know God can and I know God will, but even if He doesn't, still we will serve Him." And we like to remember how God did save them from the fiery furnace and brought them out without even the smell of smoke. But there were some in that little group of pilgrims that I am sure said the same thing...and some didn't survive that harsh winter. God could have...but He didn't.
And yet, the remaining few saw that God had provided an ample harvest and had helped them to survive and even though they had lost loved ones, they still followed what David said and gave thanks. Let's read the passage in Psalm 105:1-7. This is one of many Psalms of thanksgiving. You may have noticed that I often start our services with a reading from the book of Psalms and it's easy to find one that talks about praising God.
The occasion for this particular Psalm is the bringing of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and to the place that David had prepared for it. The Ark represented God's favor and His presence and so, you might remember, David wanted to build someplace special for it. When David got that done, he called everyone together and they had a special time of celebration and thanksgiving. And this was the special song that David wrote and gave to Asaph, the song leader. You can find most of this Psalm and the story in 1 Chronicles chapter 16 but this morning I want to read it from Psalm 105:1-7.
Give thanks to the Lord call on his name make known among the nations what he has done. 2 Sing to him sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts 3 Glory in his holy name let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. 4 Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. 5 Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced 6 O descendants of Abraham his servant O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones. 7 He is the LORD our God; his judgments are in all the earth.
This is the first of 4 sermons on gratitude that come from Psalm 105. Today we will look specifically at just verse 1. Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. David had fought lots of battles. He had won most of them but not all. He had lost family members and friends and many of his fighting men. He had seen the best that God could give and he had seen men at their worst. And while David knew his days were numbered, he also knew that this was just the beginning for the nation of Israel . And so he set aside a time just to say, "Thank you Lord."
And as they usually did with most similar Psalms, they celebrated with singing and feasting and music and even dancing, all to celebrate what God had done in their lives. And that sounds like our reason for getting together tonight. We are going to do most of those things just for that same reason. There may not be any dancing but I tell you what. When I think about what God has done and is going to do in this church, it makes me want to dance a jig. You'll have to be here tonight to see if I do that.
But in verse 1 of this passage, David tells us to do 3 things. He tells us to give thanks, call on His name and then tell others. Now, when David tells us to give thanks, we all know what that means, right? Sure we do. But I like to look up words to see what they originally meant so I can know exactly how the author was intending it so I broke out the big gun, my copy of Strong’s Expanded Concordance of the Bible. And I honestly didn’t expect to learn too much about the phrase“give thanks”. But I was surprised.
The original word in the Hebrew is “yadah” – (yawdaw) and, yes, it means to give thanks or praise. But the root word means to use the hand to throw something. That surprised me and fascinates me. It may not fascinate you so we will explore this quickly. When you are truly grateful for something it is not a passive, contemplative and meditative time. You want to do something.
When heroes come back from the war, you throw ticker-tape. When somebody does a great job onstage, one might throw roses. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem , they threw down palm branches. The way the word is used here does not necessarily mean that we are to throw things as we worship. In fact, please don’t! It means it is an active process. Because God has provided, don’t just sit there and have the thought go through your mind that you are grateful.
God didn’t just hold the door open for you or pass the salt at the dinner table for you to say, “Oh, hey, thanks dude.” When you reflect on what God has done and how He has continued to provide, it should make you want to do something, give something, say something, or participate in some tangible way.
Strong’s also says that the context of this word is usually in a public worship and that it is often done in conjunction with a confession of sin; not specific sins necessarily but the overall confession that we are sinners. And when praise is combined with confession in that way; when we confess that we are sinners and yet have received undeserved kindness from God, it throws man’s unworthiness in sharp contrast.
My Dad told me about taking a preaching class in the seminary with my Uncle Bill. He said ever so often they would have to preach in front of the class in the chapel and on this particular day it was my uncle’s turn to preach. Pop said they were scattered around here and there in the chapel and there was one black guy in this class and he happened to sit on the front row.
If you have ever heard my uncle preach you know that he can really start preaching pretty quick and on this day he was really preaching. And the guy on the front row had evidently been raised in the kind of church that every white preacher wished he had because the louder and more intense my uncle got the louder and more intense this young man got sitting on the front row. Pretty soon they seemed to be feeding off of each other and Uncle Bill is really bringing the freight while this man was standing and swaying and saying “amen” and “preach it”. He was really getting into the message and didn’t realize he was the only one standing and making any noise until he turned around and saw 30 white guys behind him sitting quietly.
You can imagine it embarrassed the guy to death and he sat down. But it’s a shame because he was doing part of just what David is telling us to do when he says to “give thanks”. This man was excited and was grateful to God and couldn’t help showing it. And we should be more that way. I’m not saying you should all stand and shout and carry on if that’s not how you worship. I mean, truly giving thanks is more than just a thought wafting across some brain cells ever so often. Truly giving thanks will manifest itself when we DO something to show our gratefulness.
So, David tells us to give thanks to the Lord and then he says to call on his name. I wanted to know what “call on His name”meant so I went back to Strong’s Concordance and it originally meant to poke yourself in the eye. No, I’m kidding. I just had to throw that in there because I thought the first one was so strange. J
To call on God’s name means to be in prayer and when you have those 2 things, praise and prayer, you have God’s attention. In fact, if you want God’s attention it is imperative that you have praise and prayer. But when you pray, do you really think to Whom you are praying? It says to call, to pray, on His name. What is God’s name?
Little kids often time, and for good reason, think that Jesus’ last name is Christ but we know that is really a title. Similarly, the name “God”is a title. His name is a manifestation of His character and His qualities. If He is “God” then that means He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things. When Moses asked God who should he say sent him, God replied, “Tell them I AM sent you.” “I AM” is not God’s name like we have names. “I AM” describes God and that is how we are to call on His name, by understanding to our best ability God’s character and qualities. When we start our prayer off with “Dear God” or “Dear Lord”, we are addressing the great I AM. We are coming into the presence of the One who says, “I AM” the Way, the Truth and the Life”. I AM the Bread of life, the Light of the world, the Gate, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection and the Life. I AM the Vine. That’s Who we are calling on when we call on His name and when we see ourselves as we truly are and then come to Him as the great I AM, there will be praise. There will be true prayer. There will be true repentance and turning from our sin. When we see ourselves as we truly are and God as He truly is then we will give thanks to the Lord and we will call on His name.
Lastly, David tells us to “make known among the nations what He has done”.
Isaiah 12:3-4 says, “Therefore with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. 4And in that day shall you say, Praise the LORD, call on his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.” Can I read that first part again? “with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation”.
My dear family, do you have that joy, that deep well of salvation? I hope so. It’s there for you. But sometimes we struggle with that and it is our own fault. We struggle with just living in this nasty old world. There are things to do and bills to pay and temptation to distract us and we can forget, #1, that we can have joy and peace in the dark times, but #2, that there are people all around us that have no hope of lasting peace or joy. They have no hope of salvation. They have no hope of protection. They don’t have the Bread, the Vine or the Truth and they have to struggle through this world doing the best they can do.
Some people struggle to see anything for which to be grateful and it’s not always because they aren’t looking. There are people within walking distance, shoot, rock-throwing distance of this church that are struggling mentally, physically and socially, not to mention spiritually. They have a hard time seeing the purpose in life when the only thing they see around them is heartache and difficulty. And while God sometimes allows us to go through all the same things they go through, we have a hope and a future. God has a plan for our lives and we can live abundant lives here on earth but we have all the joys of Heaven waiting for us afterward.
How much do you have to hate your neighbor not to tell them the Good News of Jesus? The great 19th Century evangelist William Chalmers Burns declared, "The sound of feet on the pathway to Hell is breaking my heart." And doesn’t Jesus deserve it? Shouldn’t the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of His suffering?
I want you to tell me in just one or two words what you are thankful for. Are you thankful for your church, your health, your car? Speak up and give thanks!
I have a hard time believing that you live a life of thankfulness if you never give thanks in a tangible way and your prayer life is just a list of wishes and wants and you never make known what he has done. That’s what David is saying here in this Psalm. True thankfulness will be obvious.
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