Sermon - Psalm 100 - Give Thanks - Littleby Baptist Church - November 22, 2020

Happy Thanksgiving!

Last week we looked at a few things that we have to be thankful for.

As followers of Jesus we are part of God’s family, which means we have been chosen by God to spend an eternity in Glory. We have been made holy, meaning all of our sin has been washed completely away so that we can be in God’s presence. We are dearly loved, not just appreciated, thought about… but Dearly Loved. I love that phrase; we are Dearly Loved. To me it shows how close the connection or bond is.

We have a lot to be thankful for.

That is part of the reason Paul told the Thessalonians to embrace the will of God and Rejoice Always, Pray Constantly, and Give Thanks in Everything. It is our Lord’s desire that we live our lives in this manner. If we focus on the here and now, that will be difficult. The trick is to focus on God and remember the indescribable gift our Lord has given us. The more we can do that, the more we can remember to Rejoice, Pray, and Give Thanks.

Think of your time talking to your God, reading His Word, and fellowshipping with others as a time to recharge, re-align, and be filled with His Peace. Time that helps align us with His Will for us which helps us Rejoice, Pray, and Give Thanks.

Psalm 100

“¹ Let the whole earth shout triumphantly to the Lord! ² Serve the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. ³ Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we are his— his people, the sheep of his pasture. ⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. ⁵ For the Lord is good, and his faithful love endures forever; his faithfulness, through all generations.”

It is said that Psalm 100 was written to be sung with the thanks offerings of the Jewish people. For us, we can find six hymns that reference it in our hymnal, and many people have been known to simply sing it as is. Psalm 100 reminds us that God is in control, that He is worthy of our Praise, and our Thanks!

I know 2020 has been challenging in many ways, but I want to encourage you to truly think about your life for a moment and all you have to be thankful for. It may be one of the things shared last week of something else. Think about the good in your life. Your spouse, parents, children, grandchildren, job, roof over your head, a car, food on the table, and more. We tend to focus on the negative, but if we step back and truly think about it, we have a lot to be thankful for.

Everyone of us have something, and probably a lot of somethings, to be thankful for. We just need to take the time and recognize them.

If we listen to the words of Psalm 100, we need to thank our God.

Let’s take a look at a handful of the things that are listed in Psalm 100 that we should be thankful for.

Verse 3

He made us:

Genesis 1:27

“So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female.”

God created us in His image, meaning that we were created with the ultimate goal of being able to have fellowship with our Creator. Think of it this way, God created rocks but they were not made in His image. They have a purpose, but it is not to fellowship with God. We should be thankful that we were created to fellowship with our God, which ultimately led to Jesus coming down to earth for us.

Psalm 139:13

“For it was you who created my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.”

While David might be writing figuratively here, we know that all things are created by and through Jesus, so it is safe to say that our Lord was involved in our creation in one way or another. We should be thankful that God was involved in making and shaping us.

Ephesians 2:10

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.”

God making us does not stop with the physical aspects. All believers become new creations through our Lord Jesus. We are His masterpiece, given the unique qualifications to carry out the mission He has placed before us. He molds us, shapes us, empowers us, and gives us the giftings and fruit that we need to carry out that mission. We should be thankful for the new life we have been given.

Thank God that He made us!

Looking back at Psalm 100 ‘We are His people, the sheep of His pasture:’

Psalm 23:1-6

“¹ The Lord is my shepherd; I have what I need. ² He lets me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside quiet waters. ³ He renews my life; he leads me along the right paths for his name’s sake. ⁴ Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger, for you are with me; your rod and your staff—they comfort me. ⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. ⁶ Only goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord as long as I live.”

God is our shepherd, and we are His sheep. Sheep will learn the voice of their shepherd and will follow him wherever he goes. In these verses, David is saying that God is guiding Him where he needs to be. He talks about green pastures, or good times, and he talks about the darkest valley, or the not so good times. The point here is that if the Lord is our shepherd, if we are His people, we are to follow Him. As we follow Him, He will lead us down that path that ultimately leads us to draw near to Him. It is that path that leads to righteousness, the path that leads to an eternity in Glory.

John 10:14

“¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.”

The emphasis here is that Jesus is our shepherd not just some hired hand middleman. The shepherd who owns the sheep will risk it all to protect them, the hired hand will not. In these verses Jesus also compares his knowledge of us and our knowledge of Him to that of how He and the Father know each other. That is not some passing acquaintance. That is the ultimate connection. A connection where nothing is hidden. A relationship that is closer than any two people could ever be. When our Lord knows us, there is nothing He does not know. A knowledge and love, that led Jesus to die for us. The ultimate sacrifice that a shepherd would pay for His sheep.

Thank our Lord for being our shepherd, for guiding us to a closer relationship with Him, and for paying the price so that we can live with Him forever.

Looking at Psalm 100 verse 5, we see a couple more things to be thankful for.

The Lord is Good:

Exodus 34:5-7

“⁵ The Lord came down in a cloud, stood with him there, and proclaimed his name, “the Lord.” ⁶ The Lord passed in front of him and proclaimed: The Lord—the Lord is a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth, ⁷ maintaining faithful love to a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation.”

God appeared to Moses on the mountain as He had appeared to no other since. While doing so God declared that He is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, full of faithful love, and full of truth. Went on adding that His love will last for a thousand generations, forgiving iniquity, rebellion, and sin.

Sounds like our Lord God is a Good God. A God that will show His love to those who follow Him. A God who knows that we are not perfect. A God who forgives.

God made a point to say that those who do not follow Him will be punished. See, our God is Good, He is Holy, He is without sin and cannot be around it. Those who do not turn from their ways, those who do not repent and seek God, will face the consequences.

A Good God is a Just God. One who will grant Grace for those who seek it but will also carry through with punishment where needed.

The Lord is Good in that He provided a path for us to repent of our sins and to be forgiven. That is something we should be thankful for.

The next things found in Psalm 100 verse 5 ‘His faithful love endures forever; His faithfulness, through all generations:’

These phrases or very similar are common throughout the Bible. They are reminders that our God Loves us to no end. He will never stop loving us and there is no limit to His love for us.

God’s nature does not change. If God is Love, their will never be an end to His love for His creation. God being Holy, means He does not lie, so if He says something, if the Word of God states something, you know that it is true. God is faithful. He fulfills ALL of His promises. His Word is the Truth that we can count on.

Our God Loves You and will always be with You!

As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving, take some time to really think about what you are thankful for. We can start with knowing that we have been chosen by our God as one of His children. We have been made Holy by the sacrifice of our Savior, all driven because we are Dearly Loved.

Today we have been reminded that our God made us… which was an act driven by His Awesome Love for us. Our Lord claims as us His people, His sheep, and He has laid His life down for us. Our God is a Good God, grants Grace to those who repent. A God whose Love has no limits. A God who is faithful to the very end.

If we start off by being thankful for who our God is and what He has done for us. I believe when we get our focus on God and what He has done, it will be must easier to see all the other stuff we have to be thankful for.

Our God is Good… Let’s Give Thanks for Him!

God Bless,

Robert