Thanksgiving Message 2017

Transcription

1 Thanksgiving Message 2017 If you have not had a chance to read through this month s newsletter, you will find a short history or the national holiday that is coming in a few days. One of the things noteworthy is that first celebration lasted three days while today we grudgingly allow one day or more aptly one meal. It is a shame that we have only one day set aside each year to give thanks to God as a nation. We should have some time set aside each day, to give our praise to Him who has blessed us so richly. If we check through the local stores, we may notice that Thanksgiving is almost overlooked. Christmas, because of its great commercial power, is already being pushed in the stores. Noticeably absent are the paper pilgrims that used to decorate the stores no too many years ago. Now as soon as the big push to buy costumes and candy is over, out comes the commercialization of Christmas. We are bombarded with Santa Claus and snowmen. But as God's people it is fitting that we should focus our thoughts, not only now but often, upon the goodness of God and offer our gratitude to Him for who He is and for all He has done for us. Our key scripture will be found in Psalm 103. Let s read through this psalm. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, 1

2 Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years (or desires) with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. (Psalm 103:1-5 NASB) Someone has called this David's "Hallelujah Chorus." Today we will consider only the first five verses. I would recommend that you read the entire chapter at your leisure. Notice that in our text David addresses his soul. He is reminding himself, as he praises the Lord, of all that God has done, but in the context we see that he is using a grammatical device here and is instructing his own soul. Understanding this will help us to better understand this chapter. This is a prayer. It is a prayer of praise to God. There are no supplications, petitions, pleas, there is nothing in this prayer but praise to God. First we start off with David s admonition to himself to bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits. We are not told the circumstances in which David received this Psalm, but it is not difficult to imagine how it happened. Looking at his life, counting his blessings instead of complaining about his burdens, it dawned upon David just how much God had done for him. He realized how good God had been and how undeserving he was of all these blessings. Most of us know the life and sins of David. We are keenly aware that God had forgiven much in David s life. This is not scholarly unemotional block of scriptures. Here, David pours out an intense emotional thanksgiving to God. 2

3 Praising God was an integral part of David s life. It was not something he put on once a week as he entered the temple. The Psalms record over and over again the praises of David for God. Consider Psalm 34:1-4. I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul will make its boast in the LORD; The humble will hear it and rejoice. O magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. (Psalm 34:1-3 NASB) Then again in Psalm 66:1-4. Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious. Say to God, How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will give feigned obedience to You. All the earth will worship You, And will sing praises to You; They will sing praises to Your name. (Psalm 66:1-4 NASB) We may not think about the fact that the psalms are really songs to be sung. David sang his praises to God. This begs to question, are we singing our praises to God? Do our praises burst out from us or do we manage to contain them so no one will see our pleasure in God s life for us? Second, our life in relationship with God is whole and healthy. Look at what God has done for us already. Who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your 3

4 diseases. One of the names of the devil is the accuser of the brethren. In Job we see him going before God to accuse Job. We have every reason to believe that he goes before God even now to accuse us. He says, "Look at what he said. Look at what she did. These people of yours are sinners. How can they say they really love you and continue to act like they do?" He does not have to lie about us when he comes before the Lord, for God would not permit it. No, there are enough faults in all of our lives that he simply has to point out the obvious. The Bible calls him the adversary, the enemy. But we also have an Advocate. We have one who goes to the Father on our behalf. We have Jesus Christ the righteous. When the old devil accuses us, our Advocate, Jesus, raises His nail-pierced hand and says, "Just a minute. We see no stain of sin on that one or on that one or on that one, because they are mine. I have bought them with a price and their sins, though they were like scarlet, have been washed white as snow. They belong to me. As David writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he understands that God forgives our sins. But he also sees believers as people who have been made whole because of their relationship with God. The second part of the third verse: who heals all your diseases; lets take just a moment to look at the healing that is mentioned here. Some may take this to mean physical healing. I affirm that God heals physically. While healing is a sermon in itself, suffice to say that God is the great physician to whom we can take all of our physical needs and petitions. He made us and has the power to save us. However, let s put this in the proper context. Consider James 5:

5 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. (James 5:14-15 NASB) Physical healing is not the kind spoken of here. If we are to do justice to the interpretation of this passage, we need to understand the grammatical context. He is talking to his soul, telling it that God heals all the diseases of the soul, sin being chief among them. Does the soul have diseases? Indeed it does. Fear, doubt, anger, lust, hate jealously, pride, greed... the list goes on and on. These soul diseases can all be traced back to our fallen nature and the effects of sin. But God can give permanent healing to the soul. Also, consider Psalm 147:3. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalm 147:3 NASB) We are made whole in our relationship with God. Third, our life in relationship with God is meaningful. God has redeemed us, forgiven our sins, healed the diseases of our soul, and placed us in a relationship with Him. In the 4 th verse we read: Who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion. In this verse, we may see the image of being plucked out of the garbage and transformed into something of honor. How many people waste the years of their lives on things that, in the long run, really don't count? They spend their days in pursuit of the temporal passing things, 5

6 and wake up one day, empty, tired and feeling like there is no use going on. In fact, they end up feeling betrayed because the things they worked so hard to obtain failed to bring them the satisfaction for which they longed. Later this week, we will labor for hours to prepare a meal and eat until we are totally miserable and then be hungry again in just a few hours. The world does not offer any hope for meaningful living. Money, material, power, position, things, won't do it. God gives His people purpose in living. He gives us meaning. He keeps our lives from going to waste. Our lives are lived with eternal purpose. All lives not lived in Christ are only a shell of what they are intended to be. This is one of the benefits of knowing God, our lives count; they are not lived in vain. They have eternal significance. This is one of the things David is praising the Lord for. Verse five of Psalm 103 gave me a real challenge. In part, the various translations render it with variations. I will share 5 different translations of the same verse. Listen for the variations. The first translation is the King James Version. This is the one many of us grew up reading. Some still use this version. Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's. (Psalm 103:5 KJV) When we read this we may get a picture that God will feed us tasty foods and renew our strength. Well, let s continue with one of the most literal translations the American Standard (1901). This is no longer in print. I used to use this but admit it is so literal in its word for word translation that it becomes difficult to read. Who satisfieth thy desire (or years, prime, ornament) with good things, So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle. (Psalm 103:5 ASV) Here we have 6

7 the primary word used desire and then added alternate words of years, prime, and ornament. After reading through the Hebrew word used in the original text, I found that the word that is sometimes translated mouth may also describe a decoration used on the mouth. I now offer Young s Literal Translation for Psalm 103:5: Who is satisfying with good thy desire, Renew itself as an eagle doth thy youth. (Psalm 103:5 Young s Literal Translation) Now let s look at the New International Version. Many of you may use this translation. It is the translation of the pew Bibles. Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle s. (Psalm 103:5 NIV) Finally, we will read the New American Standard Bible. Who satisfies your years (or desires) with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle. (Psalm 103:5 NASB) The point of all of looking at all of these translation is simple. Regardless of whether we read: years, mouth, desires, ornament, or prime; God has redeemed us from the pit and now gives us strength and renewal. God gives us the good things. He gives us satisfaction in our old age. Remember he (David) is speaking to his soul, he is saying that one of the benefits of being God's people is that when we are old we will not have to look back upon our lives with regret. Regardless of your age, or of how many years you have walked upon the earth, God will give you satisfaction. Here are six practical suggestions to consider as we praise God this Thanksgiving: 1. Be aware - Forget not his benefits. 7

8 2. Be honest - Don't be a phony. Don't put on an act. Phony Christians turn people off and more importantly they turn God off. 3. Be grateful - There is nothing that encourages praise like gratitude. Have a thankful heart. 4. Be vocal - Tell someone. Sing His praises. Bless someone with a testimony. 5. Be natural - Praise God in a way that is natural for you. 6. Be consistent - Make it part of your everyday experience. How about us? Are we living a life in relationship with God? If so, we cannot help but praise Him. This is the same passion David possessed. We need to be aware that we may slip into a rut and become guilty just like the children of Israel when God spoke to Isaiah in the 29 th chapter and verse 13. Because this people draw near with their words and honor Me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from Me, and their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote. (Isaiah 29:13 NASB) David said I will praise Him with all that is within me. That means, praise Him with my attitudes, my actions, my family, my finances, my words and my work, my religion and my relationships, my voice and my vocation, my church and my children, my hobbies and my habits, I will praise Him not only in word but also in deed. I will praise Him with everything that is within me. As we pause to celebrate Thanksgiving, let us also consider all His benefits? Do we enjoy those benefits? Have we ever experienced forgiveness? Are we living a meaningful life, a satisfied life? Does our soul have diseases that need to be healed? Are we living with an eternal purpose? 8