Thanksgiving as a Public Act

It has been a joy this week to rise each morning to consider all that we have to give thanks for…to rise with a song of joy. I know that that has been the case with some of you as well.

For the challenge I gave the 11 o’clock to text me Monday when they awoke with a song of joy in their hearts – I received 10 different texts…even some with the literal songs that they were singing.

I am thankful for that opportunity. It is answered prayer for your pastors to be able to see the Word of God being responded to, not just by being convicted on Sunday, but then to see the impact in the weeks to follow – So let’s be looking for ways in today’s message that we can respond to the word as a means to encourage one another.

Now if it is God’s Word that brings a song of joy in the morning…what are some things that can steal that song of joy?

For me – one of those song stealers is having to call Customer Service on-line or on the phone. This is a task I have to watch my heart on as it can send me in a direction I do not want to go.

Sometimes, you can’t even find a customer service phone number and the only option is to begin with an on-line chat…with the Virtual attendant who only answers three basic questions…and when that is not my question – then it is into the queue to wait…but at least there is no Hold music…

As much as I prefer talking to a person to solve a problem, today, calling customer service can be even more song stealing…first we hold, and we have to listen to the hold music with the repeated announcement – your call is important to us, please stay on the line – the time I waited for four hours to talk to a person – I wasn’t so convinced that my call was important to them…

My point for this story is that when we have problems and need help – It can be really hard to get though – sometimes I just need someone to make a $15 decision, but it takes 4 transfers and hours on the phone…

Then consider – maybe I am not the only one needing help – think about an airport – whether it is a mechanical issue, pilot shortage or a storm that causes delays, one problem can cause a daisy chain of impacts causing hundreds, possibly thousands of people to need to be rebooked on new fllghts…and everyone one of us thinks our rebooking is the most critical one the airline needs to address first…how would you like to be on the other side of that desk with a planeload of people wanting help…

Sometimes – it is just really hard to get through to the people who can help…

But here is a question for this morning…Is that true for the Lord? Is that true for the God of heaven and earth?

How would you like to be in charge of His call center taking all of our complaints…That reminds me of the scene in Bruce Almighty – not a theologically sound film, but when God, ok Morgan Freeman, let Bruce be God for a day, Bruce quickly figured out he could not keep up with all the prayers coming in continuously….

Don’t let me get sidetracked here – sometimes it is really hard to get through, but is that true for God?

This morning we are going to study a passage that answers that question and gives us reason that our Thanksgiving ought to be a public act

Thanksgiving as a Public Act

With that in mind, open with me to Psalm 116…page ___ in the front section of the Bible in the chair in front of you…

The past weeks we have been learning to understand

The Heart of Thanksgiving

This has been a part of our overall annual theme of

Growing in Gospel Gratitude

If you are new with us this year – I can see how one might look at this and think…well the pastors must have chosen these topics because we don’t believe we have a very thankful church

On behalf of all the pastors, I can confirm that what we see is the exact opposite…I see the opposite everyday when I am here at the Community Center

• I see it every week when our counselors who are not pastors have to get down in the mud and help someone with some of life’s most challenging problems – they show that they are thankful for God’s Word and their training to help people with it

• I see it every day when our Care Team meets with people in need and they have the ability to say yes to helping because of the resources available to them

I get to see people with Thankful hearts in many different situations, but the question for each of us…do others see that in you?

After we read Psalm 116 – you may catch on that death is repeatedly brought up, three times, in three ways, from three perspectives

Though we are not focusing on death today, we will use these points to help us see the flow in the passage and see the Heart of Thanksgiving that is on display in this Psalm…

READ PSALM 116:1-19

Just as the songs that we sung together this morning were designed to be sung in public to worship our God – that would be the case for our Psalm as well – that it was intended to be read aloud or even sung as the people of Israel celebrated together - where the people of Israel would gather to affirm the truths in the Psalm…

And that is why we are calling this

Thanksgiving as a Public Act

And as we unpack the verses of the Psalm together, I believe we will find

3 reasons to give thanks in the presence of all of God’s people

The reason I started us talking about customer service lines, and the understanding that sometimes, it is just hard to get through…because right from the beginning of this Psalm we find a reason to give thanks for all to see because we can…

I. Give Thanks that He Hears (vv. 1-7)

I don’t want you to tune out after this, but we are starting with one of the biggest takeaways…

Praise the Lord that in His call center, he never puts you on hold or sends you to a virtual assistant hoping you will give up and stop calling…

Praise the Lord that the God described in this beautiful Psalm is far different from the places we seek help in this world…

But consider, is that one of the reasons God allows the existence of a sin-cursed help line at the cable company…because it will always be a clear and powerful contrast to what we find when we come to Him for help

We can give thanks that He hears us – When we cry out, we can know that He hears.

The Psalmist raises the bar even another level – He starts by saying I love the Lord because He hears…It is important to note that in the original Hebrew, the first word here is simply “Love”

Because our love for God should cause us to call out to him before we go looking for help in this world

Love will motivate you to call out to Him (vv. 1-2)

Let’s look for a little John Calvin, the 16th-century theologian, for help understanding because the meaning of our text is timeless…- John Calvin wrote –

“At the very commencement of this psalm David avows that he was attracted with the sweetness of God’s goodness, to place his hope and confidence in him alone. This abrupt mode of speaking, I have loved, is the more emphatic, intimating that he could receive joy and repose nowhere but in God. We know that our hearts will be always wandering after fruitless pleasures, and harassed with care, until God knit them to himself.” – Calvin, John, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, 360.

You could say it this way – a thankful heart flows from a loving heart…the more we love God, the more we will express our thanks for God.

And that may come through in all of our words…consider why the 10 commandments include the command “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” And why profanity that includes the name of our Lord is simply offensive

How can I love God and give him thanks when from the same mouth I am cursing his name…

One of the more influential passages in the Otis the Shema…

Deuteronomy 6:4–5 - Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

- or Jesus’ summary of the OT commands –

Matthew 22:37–39 - And He said to him, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.” This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

That is how the Psalmist begins here – “I Love the Lord” and then he goes on to tell us why he loves the Lord and by implication why we should as well…

Psalm 116:1–2 - I love the LORD, because He hears My voice and my supplications. Because He has inclined His ear to me, Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

Take a look at the beauty of the flow here in the text…

• He hears my voice and my supplication

• Does that remind you of what Jesus said in his teaching…

John 10:27 - My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;

I want to pause here for a moment – would you have said it this way? If parent starts with My children hear my voice – wouldn’t you follow with and the know me and they obey me…

But that is not a parallel is it?

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them – In other words God knows the sound of my voice as well…

Consider – God knows your voice, among the 6.6 Billion voices on the earth

For each of us, there are certain voices that are clear and distinct even to the point we can hear them in the crowd…

But think about a God who knows your voice…

• Does that bring a sense of comfort?

• Or cause you to step back because He hears the unthankful words coming out of your mouth…

Don’t let me get too far off track…back to the Psalm…He hears my voice and supplications…

Psalm 116:2 - …Because He has inclined His ear to me…

Friends….can we just stop for a moment to consider personally?

• Do you really believe this?

• Is it one of the reasons you love the Lord?

But today we are also looking at Thanksgiving as a public act…so let’s broaden the question to all of us together…

• Would you agree that this is one of the reasons that we gather on Sundays.

• Because we love the Lord…

• And we don’t want to just pray alone in our closet, or in our car or even just in a small group, but that we want to gather to praise and give thanks to the Lord who we love

• To pray together…for the big concerns for our world and for the guidance we need for our brothers and sisters who are walking in deep waters.

• Just coming here today – is communicating that you Love the Lord to those who are here…

• It even sends that message to your neighbors – When they see you pull out the driveway every Sunday, or get on the bus every Sunday – they know where you are going…you actions are making a statement because thanksgiving is a public act…

Yes, I love the Lord, because He hears me…so what do I do with that truth?

Call out to Him in Troubling times (vv. 3-4)

Remember how I mentioned that death helps us see the flow of the passage…here is the first mention…

Psalm 116:3–4 - The cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow. Then I called upon the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I beseech You, save my life!”

Many times we will try to dig in to determine what was happening to the Psalmist to figure out why he is focused on death – but the reality is that we rarely know that answer with certainty…and in this case we do not know for sure

But that can be god for us – because instead of thinking, I am not in that situation, we can see the general principles from then and apply them to our specific situations…

• Have you found distress and sorrow in your life?

• We all do…

• In those times – do you call out to God? Giving thanks that He hears your voice?

Do distress and sorrow cause you to grow in gospel gratitude?

Think about the invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11

Matthew 11:28–29 - Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.

This has become a passage that has swelled in my heart in the past year by the hope that I find in it’s depths…

But I also realize that there may be others here today who might say – I just don’t have that kind of relationship with the Lord – I want you to know, He hears your voice too…He is calling out saying “Come to Me.”

• It simply starts by admitting you need for Christ and placing faith and trust in Him as Lord and Savior

• By acknowledging that you cannot save yourself in your own strength or by your own deeds and efforts

• It is only by the shed blood of Jesus Christ that our sins can be forgiven and his righteousness deposited in our account

• If that is your story – you can make that decision today – the invitation is open

• If you want to talk more about it, that is why we are generally the last to leave on Sunday and why our phone numbers are all on the bulletin…

So where does Loving him and calling out to Him lead?

Trust in His Character

I have been asking this question in counseling lately – When you read the Bible, do you read just to read? Do you read to answer the questions on your mind? Or do you read so that you might know God more?

We can trust in His character because He has revealed His very heart to us in His Word, so we can trust in His character by

1. Remember Who He Is…

By remembering the attributes of God he reveals in his word…What three attributes did we find today that can helps us especially to trust Him?

- Psalm 116:5 - Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.

• He is gracious

- Have you ever gone to someone for help who wasn’t?

• b) He is righteous

- Have you ever gone to someone for help who wasn’t? please especially remember that one, because the opposite of that characteristic is going to come up in a very important way just a few more verses from now…

• He is compassionate

- Have you ever gone to someone for help who wasn’t?

- By the way, here’s a convicting way to think about this…when someone comes to you for help, could what occurred have been said/done more graciously, righteously, and compassionately?

We can trust His character because we can also

1. Remember what He has done

Psalm 116:6 - The LORD preserves the simple; I was brought low, and He saved me.

I give thanks because I get to watch this happen through counseling…One couple I was working with gave me permission to share their story, and though I won’t share all the details, but I give thanks as I watched God call the heart of a man who thought He could choose himself over others, but when he became convicted of his own sin, as he was brought low, we give thanks because the Lord did not leave him there. Jesus lifted him up, having lifted up this man’s sin on the cross and Jesus took the penalty and he saved him…from there I saw a man redeemed, and transformed. The change in him was there for all to see…He is giving thanks because God heard his cry…

And that is what bring us to verse 7 calling us to

1. Counsel Your Heart with this Truth

Psalm 116:7 - Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

There is a private peace that comes in public thanksgiving…reflecting on how god is willing to hear us whenever we call brings a presence of peace unavailable anywhere else…

We could stop right here to Thank the Lord

• That He hears us

• That He actually inclines His ear to us

• And that He deals with us in ways that are gracious, and righteous and compassionate.

But God doesn’t stop there…

You know when you are talking to someone looking for their help and they simply say “ I hear ya’”…that’s not the response we were looking for.

The question is – “what are you going to do now that you have heard?”

That is why t his next section of the Psalm is so beautiful…

A second reason for us to publicly give thanks is because He rescues…

II. Give Thanks because He Rescues

Again, hearing is not enough. We would all be pretty frustrated on that customer service line if after describing the problem, they simply replied – thanks for telling me and then they hand up…not sure what might happen to my sanctification at that moment…

But for God, hearing alone is not enough

He preserves us to walk with Him

This is the second time, that death is mentioned

Whole Psalm slide with v3 to v8 death connection

See how he describes the rescue in verse 8…

Psalm 116:8 - For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling.

The Lord doesn’t just hear our voice – He does something about it…and it often involves some kind of amazing rescue…

That is what this husband I counseled was saying – not only did God rescue him, but He did so in a way that even the guys at work had to comment on…because he was a changed man…he was no longer stumbling over the temptations of the past.

There are two questions that come from this for us…

Do you have a rescue story? When we share it, it is an act of thanksgiving, because my testimony is not about me, it is about the work that Christ did in me.

• The work that God did to convict me of my sin

• The work that God did to call me to himself

• The work that God did to pour out His grace at the Cross so that I might be saved

• And as Paul says in Phil 1:6 – I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus

God is still at work in all of his children – none of us are perfected yet

His work is our rescue story

So then , are you learning to tell the story and looking for opportunities to do so?

For You have rescued my soul from death, My eyes from tears, My feet from stumbling.

This verse sounds very similar to another you might know in Psalm 40

Psalm 40:1–3 - I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God; Many will see and fear and will trust in the LORD.

Is that your testimony this morning? Are you growing in gospel Gratitude because He rescues?

Or do the complaints just keep rising to the surface…because you know what drives out grumbling and complaining…

• cultivating a heart of thanksgiving,

• because God hears and

• because God rescues

and God does it all with a purpose – so that we can walk before the Lord

Psalm 116:9 - I shall walk before the LORD in the land of the living.

That sounds great – but what does it mean? Do you recall the name Enoch in the OT? This was before the days of Noah where it says

Genesis 5:24 - Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Enoch was unique, but not in a way that says god created him different from us – simply that his relationship was that close with God…the Psalmist uses the phrase to walk with God as a way of showing us we can have that relationship.

“To walk in the presence of God is, in my opinion, equivalent to living under his charge. And thus David expects to enjoy his safety continually. For nothing is more desirable than that God should be upon the watch for us, that our life may be surrounded by his protecting care.” – Calvin, John, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, 364.

But Enoch is not the only example – This is also the example of Christ. When Jesus was tired and weary, He chose to slip away alone, to walk with God because that was his greatest desire and his greatest need.

It is ours too, because our

Ultimate rescue can come from no other

Verses 10-11 hold a shocking affirmation

Psalm 116:10–11 - I believed when I said, “I am greatly afflicted.” I said in my alarm, “All men are liars.”

What does that mean for us?

• Anytime we go to human beings for help, even in the best of situations, that help will be flawed

Let’s connect these ideas visually to see the contrast

Whole Psalm slide – Righteous/Liars connection

20^th Century theologian Cornelius Van Til said

Theologian Cornelius VanTil – There is no such thing as epistemological neutrality.

That word, epistemological, means source of truth…so if we say that all men are liars, which agrees with what God says, then we cannot trust men as our source of truth which is why Van Til went on to say that

Theologian Cornelius VanTil – all facts are interpreted facts.

And when we say that All men are liars – who does that include? Yes…you…and me.

That means I need to be far more humble about my opinions and interpretations…but can I ask you to not leave me hanging up here by myself…anyone else convicted of that truth?

That doesn’t make me feel very thankful until I see the other side…

• Because I can seek out my God who hears

• And even inclines his ear to me with perfect righteousness

• That makes it far more likely that I can interpret my circumstances, my thoughts and feelings, more truthfully.

When we need rescuing, it is more than just any rescue, it is rescuing truthfully

• Because a rescue by men is chock full of lies

There are many important implications that come from that, but for the sake of time, I will touch on just two.

• Our Culture today has placed the greatest value on our feelings and our perception over reality

• And when perception becomes the new reality, then our feelings become our source of truth

• It no longer matters what happens, only our perception of what happens

• Consider the transgender debate

• In years past, long before there were ultrasounds to provide an early look, when a baby was born, the doctor never flinched in joyfully pronouncing to mom and dad…It’s a Boy or It’s a girl…

• No one would have thought to question the Doctor – how do you know? Have you asked the baby how he, she or it feels?

• To some that idea sounds crazy – to others today, that has become the new truth.

• Then at the cost of objective truth, instead of believing that All men are liars. The implication is that culture now wants to accept that we should allow permanent surgical changes based on feelings that can change.

• If you want to look deeper at this topic – let me recommend one of two books

Pictures of The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self and Strange New World

The first is the more in-depth study and the second is aa shorter treatment of the same information.

• But Friends, when we see this change in thinking – We must go to the God of heaven and Earth to find our truth…

This is why Paul warned the Ephesian leaders:

Acts 20:29–32 - I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

A second more joyful implication is that we should thank the Lord that Jesus Christ is way and the truth.

• We need a Savior who will judge us fairly – based on truth that never changes

• But that truth does not lean in my favor – If Jesus is only Truth – I am in big trouble…

• I am thankful for the other attributes he reveals to us…

• - John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

• - - John 1:17 - For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

• We can rejoice because even though Jesus knows the truth about us, every past, present and future flaw…every sin…by his grace, he chose to die on the cross for me and for you anyway

- all men are…liars…

that’s why Psalm 116:5 has the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus mapped all over it…

Psalm 116:5 - Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.

- for a God who hears, and rescues in perfect righteousness, we should be thankful…which is how our Psalm ends:

III. Give Thanks that He Overcomes – vv. 15-19

A. His victory frees us to look at death differently

-

This is the third use of the word “death” in our passage…

Whole Psalm Slide circling Death v3, v8, v15

• When I have had the opportunity to serve families through funerals and mourning. There is a clear difference between those whose loved one had a clear testimony in Christ and for those who were unsure, or just did not know God’s love.

• There is no greater gift you can give your loved one than to give them the assurance to know that you know that you know. That means you have to publicly give thanks for our god who hears, our god who rescues and our god who has overcome death for you and for me.

• This is the greatest gift you can give those you love…

Then we close by

Publicly thank Him for His victory

- Psalm 116:17–19 - To You I shall offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and call upon the name of the LORD. I shall pay my vows to the LORD, Oh may it be in the presence of all His people, In the courts of the LORD’S house, In the midst of you, O Jerusalem. Praise the LORD!

The last application right here in the final verses points us to our Stewardship Celebration…We want to come together to Publicly give thanks

We have a unique opportunity to give thanks

• For He has heard our cry and inclined his ear

• We see that over and over again in his provision for comfort and strength through the counseling ministry

• We see all the ways that he rescues so vividly in ministries like Vision of Hope and Restoration – and also in the school and in our church

• And we see that He overcomes –

Through His death we can have life

Through His death we can have Victory

I love the Lord, because He is a God who hears.