Psalm 23 A Guide to Thanksgiving and Praise Parkdale Grace Fellowship Thanksgiving Sunday, October 12, 2016 What is the reason for this time of celebration that we call Thanksgiving? The name itself should be self-explanatory. It is a time of giving thanks. But for many of our society who try so hard to ignore the existence of God, Thanksgiving is another one of those awkward holidays that they are not too sure what to do with. Who do you give thanks to if you do not acknowledge God? And what do you give thanks for if you think you have gained all that you have independently by your own skill, your own resources and your own hard work? When we think of Thanksgiving the images that so easily come to our minds are pumpkins and turkeys, sweet potatoes and apple pies. Is Thanksgiving all about food? I heard a commentator on the radio saying that Thanksgiving is all about being together with family. Is that really what it is about? It would then be Family Day. Let me ask you to search your hearts this morning: What does your celebration of Thanksgiving communicate to those you celebrate with? Apart from the food and apart from the family gathering what is there in your family practice that marks this as a special occasion? What do your children and your grandchildren learn from your example about the significance of Thanksgiving? In Romans 1:18-22, the Bible tells us what brings about times of judgment and social corruption to a society: 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise they became fools So acknowledging God and giving thanks to God for what He has done for us is a vital aspect of living in right relationship with God and of preserving a family and a society from decay. Have you ever been in a gathering when someone asks, So what are you thankful for? And that is followed by an awkward silence as you mentally scramble to think of something to give thanks for?
2 Sometimes it can be very helpful to have a simple easy to remember outline, reminding us of what we can thank the Lord for. For me, I have often used the Twenty Third Psalm as an outline for giving praise and thanksgiving to God. Let me show you how this familiar Psalm can be used to prompt us to giving thanks. These are the words of a young man who was a shepherd. He looked after his father s flock of sheep. And in his relationship as a shepherd to those sheep he learned many things about the way that God relates to us. He realized that we are all like the sheep and God is like the shepherd caring for His sheep. And as we are reminded by these words of just how deeply the Lord cares for us and how intimately He is involved in our lives let us be quick to respond with thanksgiving. Psalm 23:1, The Lord is my Shepherd. Give thanks that you are not a lost sheep. You are not an orphan. The Bible says I belong to the Lord, the Creator of Heaven and earth and He loves me, He takes care of me. Eph. 2:19 Therefore you are no longer outsiders (exiles, migrants, and aliens, excluded from the rights of citizens), but you now share citizenship with the saints (God s own people ); and you belong to God s [own] household. (Amplified) Most people in this world are separated from God, they are the possession of Satan a cruel master who hates them and oppresses them; he steals from them, robs them of all joy, destroys all hope and all potential and ultimately kills them, separating them from the goodness of God forever. But thank God, like David we can say, I belong to a Good Shepherd, one who loves me and cares for me. But better still, not only do I belong to Him, but He belongs to me I m not just a face in a crowd, but the Lord has a very personal relationship with each of His sheep. Because the Lord is mine, I shall not want. This is the overarching theme of the Psalm, because of the Lord s relationship with us, I shall not want He shall provide all that I need. He has promised to meet all of our needs according to His riches in heaven. Thank you Jesus for this promise.
3 And all that He is, He is to us and for us all of His attributes, abilities, resources and powers are available for our benefit. All that He has He has freely given to His people. Our relationship with our Shepherd is like a good family relationship in which all that is ours is His and all that is His is also ours. We share everything. Ephesians 1:3 tells us that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Thank you Lord for faithfully meeting all my needs. Psalm 23:2, He makes me to lie down in green pastures. Sheep will only lie down in a field of grass when their stomachs are full and they are satisfied, content, peaceful and free from fear or anxiety. Our Lord so thoroughly meets our needs that we can lie down and rest in peace, surrounded by all that we need. God takes care of us in the good times of health and abundance. We can give thanks for the abundant provision we are surrounded with: James 1:17, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights Begin by thanking the Lord that you woke up alive this morning; every breath we breathe is a gift from God. And thank Him that you have the health and strength to enjoy this day; give thanks that you are not sick. Yes food is an important part of our Thanksgiving celebration. Thank Him that He has given you the ability to taste and that He has filled this world with so many good things to taste; And thank Him that he has given you hearing and filled the world with so many good sounds to hear; He is the creator of speech, voices, music, song birds, babbling brooks, purring cats, laughter, and stories. And thank Him that He has given you sight and surrounded you with so many beautiful and interesting things to see. And thank Him for the ability to enjoy life. Many have all these good things but they cannot enjoy them because they lack the joy of the Lord. Joy is a gift from God (John 15:11).
4 Thank Him for all those things that make our situation in life look like green pastures compared to those fleeing from war torn lands where they have lost everything including loved ones, or those living in the squalor of extreme poverty and disease where there is no hope for the future. Thank the Lord for this land of freedom and opportunity; for your parents; your spouse; your children; your friends your home; your job; your church it is all a gift from God. Psalm 23:3, "He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name s sake." This is now addressing some of the spiritual blessings we can give thanks for. He restores my soul. Colossians 1:13, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Romans 8:1, There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus... Romans 5:1, Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Justified that means He made us righteous, without sin, He made us to be acceptable, in right standing, and made loveable He made us worthy of God s love. Thank you Lord. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name s sake. Wow, is it ever comforting to have someone who knows their way around to lead you when you are in a strange place. When I went to Zambia to visit Don and Gwen, and landed in that strange unfamiliar country knowing nothing about where to go, what to do. It was so comforting to see Don come up to me and give a big hug and say, Come, follow me. When we are parenting our children, or making important decisions about our future, we don t know what the future holds; we don t know which is the best way to go. How comforting it is to turn it over to Jesus who knows the past, present and future, He knows the heart of your child, He knows the motivations of those around you; and He is 100% motivated by an intense desire for your success. Or when making major decisions regarding your career, or a marriage partner, or to step out and move to another part of the world thank God that He is there to lead us in right paths.
5 He has no desire to lead you astray, and He won t. We can trust Him completely to lead us always and only in paths of righteousness. Ps. 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; There are difficult times in life, but we do not have to fear. How did you get into that valley of the shadow of death? Verse 3 tells us that the Lord leads us in paths of righteousness and if we are following Him sometimes those paths He leads us on take us through the valley of the shadow of death. We ve been giving thanks for the good times in life, but now we are addressing the difficult times in life. But when you are in that valley remember that you have not been abandoned, the Lord is still there leading you through. He has tremendous purposes for taking you down this path. Are you having difficulty giving thanks this morning because of your circumstances? Are you wondering, where is this God in my time of need? Sometimes God s abundant provision is hidden from our eyes for a while to test our faith and to strengthen our walk with the Lord our good Shepherd. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." Thanksgiving in all circumstances demonstrates that you trust that God is still in control and you trust His promises even your most difficult hour when you can t see them. Chuck Smith tells a story of a time in his life when as a pastor of a small church the congregation gave him what was left over in the offering after the church s bills got paid. There was a period of time when there was not enough left over to live on. The bills began piling up and soon the creditors began calling. They were behind in their mortgage payments and the bank was about to foreclose. Their power was going to be cut off and the car repossessed. Chuck went before the Lord in prayer and fasting. The Lord repeatedly brought this scripture to mind: Phil.4:19 And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. But the next day there was no sign of relief. So Chuck prayed more fervently and got the same reply from the Lord. Chuck couldn t sleep at night, he was so anxious and he continued crying out to the Lord.
6 Then two days before the end of the month when they would lose their house the phone rang. It was an old acquaintance whom they hadn t had contact with for a long time who knew nothing about their circumstances. He said, I m not sure why but I have been strongly impressed upon in my spirit to phone and tell you my wife and I have mailed you a cheque, you should get it today or tomorrow. God impressed upon our hearts a few days ago to send you the money, we weren t going to say anything to you. The amount of the cheque was exactly to the dollar enough to pay off all of their debt. After getting off the phone, Chuck and his wife began to shout, Praise the Lord, hallelujah, thank you Jesus as they danced for joy around their living room. Later when Chuck was alone the Lord spoke so clearly to him it was almost audible. Chuck, why are you so excited? Well you know Lord, because a cheque is coming in the mail for the full amount we need to pay our debts. Then God said, How do you know it s really going to come? Well Lord, my friend told me he put it in the mail and he wouldn t lie about something like that. Then God said, Chuck, why didn t you believe me and dance around the room when I repeatedly told you that I would supply all your needs? We have a more sure promise than any promise or security offered by man. We can thank the Lord for His bountiful provision even when we don t see it. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; I thank the Lord that He has conquered sin and death. They have no power over the child of God. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory?... Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 8:35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?... 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
7 Lord we thank You for your abiding presence and for Your promise to never leave us. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. The Shepherd s rod and staff were used to protect the sheep from enemies and to guide and when necessary to discipline the sheep. Our God will discipline us and correct us when we get off course and will protect us from anything that would harm us, including our own foolishness. It comforts me to know that the Lord will not let me go wrong without making it clear to me. Even if it hurts at first, He will always lovingly address our failures and work to bring correction to our lives. Thank you Lord for always working to conform me to the glorious, awesome image of Your Son, Jesus. Psalm 23:5, You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. We live in a world filled with enemies of Christ and the cross. God doesn t need to take away our enemies in order to bless us. God doesn t need to take us out of our difficult circumstances in order to bless us. But in the midst of opposition and danger our Lord is able to make us thrive like he did for Joseph in Egypt or Daniel in Babylon; You anoint my head with oil; This speaks of healing. Because we live in the presence of enemies we suffer wounds, but our Shepherd- God ministers healing to our bodies and souls. Isaiah 53:5-6, But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. Thank you Jesus for Your ministry of health and healing to our bodies, and our souls. Even in the presence of my enemies, and sometimes especially in the presence of my enemies, My cup runs over. This speaks of abundance of blessing, more than we can contain. 1 Corinthians 2:9, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. Thank you Jesus for the abundance of your blessings.
8 Psalm 23:6, Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; As we follow the Lord, even through the trials of the valley of the shadow of death where we are surrounded by enemies, the Lord causes goodness and mercy to follow after us. This implies that our walk with the Lord will result in blessing coming to those who follow us our children, grandchildren, and friends whom we influence. The Lord causes our lives to be a blessing to those who come behind us. Lord thank you that our lives can have an impact in others and bring goodness and mercy from God to them. And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. God promises us hope for a glorious future. We will dwell in the Father s house as His child and as the bride of Christ. We have been made part of the family of God. There can be no living happily ever after apart from Christ. But because of the Lord our Shepherd, we are assured that we will live happily ever after. Psalm 16:11, You will show me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. And after getting a good run down the runway of thanksgiving your heart is soon ready to pull back on the joy stick and rise up into the heavenly courts of praise. (Jack Taylor) Lord You are my Righteousness, You are my Sanctifier, my Peace, my Healer. You are my Provider, my Identity and the One who goes before me to fight on my behalf (the battles are all Yours), You are my Shepherd Thank You Lord! Oh God, there is no one like you! You are perfect in every way, there is no weakness, no sin, no flaw. You are almighty; all power in the universe is Your power and comes from You. No one can ever threaten You or overpower You or frustrate Your plans, You are sovereign and in total control. You are everywhere; You know everything; Your wisdom is perfect, You have never made a mistake and You never will make a mistake. You know everything about me, even my deepest thoughts and You love me, You delight in me and I delight in You. Thank You for blessing me with this incredible relationship with the God of creation. You alone are God; no one created You, but You have created all things, and You keep all things going.
9 You alone are eternal, You have always existed and You will never cease to exist and You have promised to never leave me or forsake me that means forever You will be with me to take care of me. Thank You that forever You are my Shepherd! Copyright 2016 by Parkdale Grace Fellowship Permission: You are permitted to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you do not alter the wording in any way and do not charge a fee beyond the cost of reproduction. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.