1 How to be Thankful (Psalm 100 & John 10:1-7) 22 nd Jan 2017 G day, Sheep! Please keep your Bibles open at Psalm 100. This is the fourth part of a 5 part series called A Summer of Psalms which we ll be looking at throughout January. You can take notes on the outline provided if you wish Let s ask God for His understanding Let s pray Background [Powerpoint 1 Background] First up then - a reminder that there are roughly 5 types of Psalms: 1. Hymns religious songs or poems in praise to God (Psalms: 8, 123-125) 2. Lament or Complaint Psalms expressing sadness to God or complaining against God s enemies (Psalms: 44, 60, 74, 79, 80, 85, 90) 3. Royal Psalms songs that were performed in the presence of kings or royalty or dignitaries (Psalms: 18, 20, 21, 45, 72, 101, 110, 132, 144) 4. Thanksgiving Psalms these psalms include both thanksgiving from individuals (Ps 30, 32, 34) and communities (Ps 67 and 124). Best known is Psalm 100 which we ll look at in a few weeks 5. Wisdom Psalms which discuss aspects of wisdom (Psalms: 1, 37, 49) This week s psalm is a psalm of thanking God Page 1 of 13
2 Intro There s a story of 10 men who were very sick and they went into a village where they knew there was a really good doctor The doctor told them all how they could be made well again and gave them the cure for their sickness and they all left the village. But one of the 10 men came back and thanked the doctor for what he d done the other 9 men didn t bother Does the story sound familiar? Well it should - it s in the Bible In Luke chapter 17 it s the story of 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus but only one of the lepers bothered to thank Him I wonder why the other 9, didn t say thank you? Maybe they wanted to see if the cure was real or that it would last? Or maybe they thought they weren t really that sick and the leprosy would have gone away on its own? Who knows I also wonder if we re a bit like the other 9 lepers and we sometimes forget to say thank you to each other - and more importantly we forget to say thank you to God [Powerpoint 2-Psalm 100] Well Psalm 100 is about doing just that thanking God Page 2 of 13
3 The psalm was originally written to the ancient Israelites as they were going to the temple in Jerusalem in Old Testament times But shortly after the time of Jesus in AD 70 the temple was destroyed But that doesn t make the psalm irrelevant The Jews and us today we still come to a central place of worship to worship God And the psalm is addressed to ALL the Earth in v1 It s for everyone to worship and thank God And this psalm shows us how and why we should thank God How and Why? In the 5 verses of Psalm 100 there are 7 How to s 7 ways that we are to thank God These 7 How to s take the form of 7 imperatives An imperative is: [Powerpoint 3-Imperatives] A command, an order, a rule or a duty Like when you say to a child Go to your room or Go and brush your teeth or Go to sleep It s not negotiable, it s not a suggestion, it s a command! Page 3 of 13
4 So let s look at these 7 imperatives on how we can be thankful to God and as we do, we ll also look at why we should thank God too. Imperative #1 Shout for Joy to the Lord, all the Earth (v1) [Powerpoint 4-Imperative #1-Shout for joy] This command in fact all of the psalm is directed at all the earth for everyone to shout with joy The original Hebrew meaning is that this should be loud and spontaneous like a victory shout when greeting a king who has returned from battle after a great victory So when we see that God has worked a victory in our lives whatever it might be - we can give a shout of joy that God has won a victory for us He s answered us and we can be happy about it! And it s okay to be noisy about it even if we are Presbyterian! (pause) It puzzles me that when we watch the cricket or football or tennis or go to a concert we are so excited and energetic - when our team or our favourite player wins we almost undergo a personality change standing up in the crowd at the game and yelling and screaming or if we re at home we almost fall off the lounge in excitement but when it comes to shouting for joy for what God has done we re like stunned mullets! What s going on there? Why do we get excited about entertainment - but not about God? Page 4 of 13
5 Perhaps we can all feel a bit convicted about that? (pause) Imperative #2 Worship the Lord with gladness (v2a) [Powerpoint #5-Imperative#2] The word for worship literally means serve Serving God like a slave working for God Just like the Levite priests did in the temple Now - we serve in many ways here at St. David s We ve just put out the new roster for 2017 and there s so many people on the roster and so many little jobs to do to make the Family Service and Café Church function properly But notice it says worship or serve the Lord with gladness With gladness means serving with joy and being happy and seeing it as a pleasure to serve God in this way Are we glad to be on the roster? Or do we open up the bulletin on Sunday and groan oh no I m on welcoming next week, or I m on washing up duty next week I wish I hadn t have put my name down! Are we serving God with gladness or begrudgingly? (pause) Imperative #3 Come before Him with joyful songs (v2b) [Powerpoint #6-Imperative#3] Page 5 of 13
6 Come before Him means we do have to actually commit to coming before God that means we have to actually turn up on Sunday to worship Him And it s not just a matter of occupying a seat But come before and express our joy in the Lord by singing We don t have to have a great voice it s our personal expression of how we feel about God when we sing we express how we feel about Him So I m expecting the last hymn/song today to be the loudest and most joyful we ve ever sung at St. David s! As we gather in God s presence today, is our singing really reflecting how we feel about God? Is our singing effort reflecting our overall effort in how we worship Him? Has worshipping God become ho-hum for us? If so what are we going to do about it? (pause) Imperative #4 Know that the Lord is God (v3a) [Powerpoint #7-Imperative#4] Know here means to understand who God is By experiencing Him as we hear His word read and preached and as we sing His praises and as we pray to Him and as we feel His presence we begin to discover who God is and understand more about His character and we begin to recognize that He is the Only TRUE God YHWH the One who wants a relationship with us! Page 6 of 13
7 If we don t turn up on Sunday and if in our own private times at home - we don t read our Bibles and pray and sing His praises and say thank you to Him how can we get to know Him? How do we know our family and friends so well? Because we spend time with them and build a relationship with them? That s how It s the same with God! We need to spend time with Him to really know Him! SO Why should we shout for joy to the Lord, and worship Him with gladness and come before Him with joyful songs and know that the Lord is God [Powerpoint 8-Why?] Well verse 3 tells us why We should do all of this: a. Because the Lord is God in other words the Lord (YHWH), the God who wants a relationship with us is also the Creator God (Elohiym). In other words the Lord is the One True God who created everything out of nothing just by speaking. And He is the One in control of all things not us! So we should be submitting to Him and serving Him and thanking Him for all He has done and continues to do! b. Because He made us God made human beings not evolution not Big Bangs not by accident so we should bow down and thank Him for making us. Just look at the miracle of a new born baby it s amazing. That s God s handiwork! Page 7 of 13
c. Because we are His God wants a relationship with His creatures us so much so that even when sin entered the world and broke that relationship He still wanted a relationship with us to continue and was prepared to be the One to fix that broken relationship with us because we are His and He loves us and want us to be okay and not punished for our sin and rebellion d. Because we are His sheep. If we are His sheep it implies that He is our shepherd. What we know about sheep is that they are half blind and often get lost and go astray and they need a shepherd. God was prepared to be that Shepherd. Psalm 23 says so. And our NT reading from John 10 says that Jesus is like a gate for the sheep to come to Him and be safe because Jesus is in fact the Good Shepherd. And Jesus is a special kind of shepherd because He not only looks for even one lost sheep He is even prepared to lay down His life for His sheep to be safe in a fixed relationship with God e. Because we are His because when we enter into a fixed relationship with Jesus the Good Shepherd we undergo a spiritual rebirth and the Holy Spirit lives inside us and transforms us and helps us and equips us to worship and thank God - as He commands us in this psalm But there s still 3 more imperatives in this psalm to look at Imperative #5 Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise 8 Page 8 of 13
9 [Powerpoint 9-Imperative 5] His gates and courts refer to the temple in Jerusalem which had various areas to worship, depending on whether you were a priest, or a Jew or a Gentile (non-jew) The writer of the psalm is not talking about an individual s time of worship with God but corporate worship like we do here at St. David s on Sundays and join together to worship God. So God is commanding that we join together to worship Him So worshipping Him at home is not enough Remember these imperatives are commands not suggestions So as we enter the gates and courts of our church each week We are joining together to give thanks and praise to God Not just for what He has done for each one of us individually but what He has done for us as a church family too We d have to admit that we have been blessed greatly in our church family with both numerical and spiritual growth with the many prayers that have been answered with the many ministries that we are involved in - with our outreach to the community not to mention being blessed financially So it seems to me only right and proper that we come before God together to thank Him and praise Him and give Him the credit and honour for all He has done for us here at St. David s Imperative #6 Give thanks to Him Page 9 of 13
10 [Powerpoint 10-Imperative 6] The word for give thanks here, in Hebrew means, to confess or point out So what God is expecting here is that we point out to Him and to everyone just who He is and what He has done and we re doing it publically it s a public demonstration of how great our God is So as the doors at the back of the church are open and as people are walking by they can hear and see a public demonstration that all the people in here have gathered together today to give thanks to God and worship Him It s not a secret we keep to ourselves but open for everyone to see Imperative #7 Praise His name [Powerpoint 11-Imperative 7] Praise here means to bless When we bless someone - for example when we say to someone God bless you We re asking God to look favourably on someone So if we re commanded to bless God s name - we are asking people to look favourably on God s name To see that in fact it s the name above all names It s the greatest name of all We also have to realize that when we say God has a great name It s not just his actually name we are talking about it s His character and reputation And God s character and reputation are second to none Page 10 of 13
So - why should we enter his gates with thanksgiving, and give thanks to him and praise/bless his name [Powerpoint 12-Why?] V5 gives us 3 reasons: a. Because God is good We see God s goodness when He created everything He said after each day it was good and then on the 6 th day when all creation was finished He said it was very good. We also see God s goodness in the fact that He is the complete opposite of badness and evil. He is the source of all that is good. The one who makes it possible for there to be life without sin and to have life into eternity b. Because God s love endures forever Which brings us to the 2 nd reason for thanking Him. That s because His love lasts forever. God is in fact love He is the source of love. Now sometimes we might not feel like God is good and loving, especially when we re going through horrible things in our lives and especially when we see what s happening in our world today. But if we believe God s word when it says all things work together for good all things good and bad work together then we can see that God can make good out of the worst situations. We only have to see that the bad, wicked thing that happened to Jesus on the cross when He was crucified worked for good by saving people from their sin and by giving the opportunity for forgiveness and life with God forever. 11 Page 11 of 13
That s God s goodness and love even in the worse situation. If Jesus suffered - and goodness and love still came from it. Then we can be assured that goodness and love can come out of the suffering in our lives too c. Because God s faithfulness continues through all generations Which brings us to our 3 rd reason for thanking Him And that s because God is always faithful As we read the Bible we see God s faithfulness to His people, Israel, time and time again despite their sin and rebellion. God is faithful to Israel even when they are unfaithful to Him. God always keeps His promises and we see that in a mighty way that He promised to bless all nations through one of Abraham s descendants which finds its fulfilment in Jesus who is able to bless anyone who comes to Him So if God has been faithful in all His promises so far. We can be sure of His future promises and that He will be faithful in them too We can be sure Jesus will return We can be sure we are forgiven We can be sure of a place in Heaven because of Jesus 12 Conclusion/Challenge So will you be like the one leper who thanked Jesus - or the other nine who didn t? Will you thank God today and beyond? Page 12 of 13
13 With shouts of joy And worship/serve Him with gladness as one of His sheep And will you know Him as the Creator and Sustainer and Saviour God Will you enter his gates with thanks, with praise? Thanking Him and His Name We have a lot to be thankful for But too often we look at the glass half empty and don t see the many blessings In 1636, amid the darkness of the Thirty Years' War, a German pastor, Martin Rinkart, is said to have buried five thousand of his parishioners in one year, an average of fifteen a day. His parish was ravaged by war, death, and economic disaster. In the heart of that darkness, with the cries of fear outside his window, he sat down and wrote this: 'Now thank we all our God / With heart and hands and voices;/ Who wondrous things had done,/ In whom His world rejoices. /Who, from our mother's arms,/hath led us on our way/ With countless gifts of love/ And still is ours today. "Here was a man who knew thanksgiving comes from love of God, not from outward circumstances. Let me leave you with a challenge: No matter what trials and problems you re facing right now Can you write down 5 things you are thankful to God for today!!!! Let s pray Page 13 of 13