“3 Reasons For Our Grateful Praise” - Thanksgiving 2023
Sermon Title: 3 Reasons For Our Grateful Praise - Thanksgiving 2023
Scripture: Psalm 100 (ESV)
Introduction
Giving thanks is a prominent theme in the Psalms, but Psalm 100 is the only psalm that is specifically titled as a psalm of giving thanks. The psalmist speaks of an invitation to all of creation to exhort, to praise, and to bless the Lord. He shows us what God is like and who God is as our Creator and our Father. Afterall, how can we be thankful if we don’t know who God is and what God is like in His nature.
There are THREE intrinsic reasons to thank and praise God:
1. We are to lift up our grateful praise to God because: The Lord is Good.
· God is good and all He does is good. God is the standard for all the is good. When we say God is good, we speak of God’s character and nature.
· The circumstances, challenges, difficulties, and hardships of our life are never contrary to God’s goodness. Whether we realize it or not, God is working out his goodness over every moment of our lives, because He is our Father (Rom. 8:28; 2 Cor. 6:18; Ps. 103:13).
· Our God loves us and has deep compassion for us. Part of God’s goodness is that He knows what is best for us. It is His desire to pour out His goodness onto us so that we may always delight in Him and enjoy His presence. Regardless of the troubles of our lives, the truth remains that our God is good and His is good all the time.
· God’s goodness does not mean we need to understand everything. It is not our job to figure things out. Instead, we are invited into a life of trust and freedom that is rooted in His goodness towards us.
· God knows exactly what we are going through and he will surely take care of us. God desires for us to trust him – it’s not about what He does for us but who He is to us. Trusting God is about waiting for God to take the wrong things in your life work them for our benefit.
2. We are to lift up our grateful praise to God because: His steadfast love endures forever.
· Some translations use “mercy” instead of “steadfast love”. If god’s goodness speaks of God’s character, then God’s mercy speaks of God’s nature. Mercy is god’s goodness in relation to sinners; He forgives our sins when we return to Him in repentance. Out of His love for us, comes His mercy.
· Just as God himself is eternal, his love and mercy is forever! God’s love and his mercy never runs out; God’s love and mercy is never exhausted. It lasts forever!
· Love and mercy are the essence of god’s nature and His nature is not contingent on what we do or do not do. There is nothing we can do to make God love us more or less. He shows us love and mercy because it is His nature to do so. It is never about what we deserve, it is all about His grace!
· Despite our failings, shortcomings of God’s glory and holiness, mistakes, brokenness, and sins, we find encouragement that we are still loved by God and His mercy is still given to us!
· The fullness of God’s love and mercy is manifest and demonstrated at the cross of Jesus Christ. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for our sins in our place, and he took upon himself the punishment that we deserved. God has given us the invitation to become His children and receive eternal life so that we may truly be redeemed and restored and whole again, fully enjoying Him forever.
3. We are to lift up our grateful praise to God because: His faithfulness continues through all generations
· God’s faithfulness continues through all generations because that’s his promise to us. We can face the future with confidence because God promises us that his faithfulness will continue from one generation to another. The unchanging nature of God's faithfulness will continue to flow unto our children and to our grandchildren and the children of our grandchildren, unto ALL generations.
· Those who come from Christian homes are beneficiaries of God’s faithfulness that continues to this day. It is God’s faithfulness that has held up your life because God has been faithful to your parents and their prayers for you.
· Those who do not come from Christian homes, God is initiating the promise of His faithfulness through you and to your household. He is initiating a new future for your children and your descendants that is filled with His goodness, filled with his love, and filled with his faithfulness.
· For parents, the comforting promise of God for us today is that - God will faithfully take care of our children just like he took care of us!
For these three reasons, the psalmist exhorts us to lift up our thankful praise to Him.
Reflection and Response
· How much of your thankfulness to God is represented by God’s “doing” than God’s very “being”?
· What is your response when trouble and suffering happen in your life? How do you respond to what is said in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18?
· Is it difficult for you to trust God solely based on who God is? Do you have difficulty trusting God because you don’t understand nor can you figure out you situation? Is God’s promise, His nature, and His character, His goodness not enough?