A Call to Be Thankful
psalm 100

In a year where we have seen many discouragements – yet probably none different than those during the days of the psalmist – there is a wonderful exhortation to make a joyful noise unto our Lord! A spirit of thanksgiving will not permeate or saturate our hearts and minds until we've been able to understand that no matter what is going on in our lives, God is good and we have something to be thankful about!

Sometimes, our efforts remind me of a story of a little Boy Scout who arrived late for a Boy Scout meeting. The scoutmaster questioned him about his tardiness. The boy said, “I was doing my good deed for the day, helping an old lady across the street!”

The scoutmaster asked, “Why did it take all day?”

“She didn't want to go across the street!”

In our materialistic society, we have become a spoiled generation that would rather stay on the cynical, disheartened and dissatisfied side of the street rather than cross over to view the goodness of our Lord! As a result, Thanksgiving is known only as the day when thousands of turkeys lay down their lives for the sacrificial meal called Thanksgiving Dinner!

As believers, there should always be the realization in our hearts that the Son of God has laid down His life for us so that we can be thankful throughout eternity. It means that no matter how bad our condition happens to be, as believers, every day is a day of thanksgiving!

When we look at life in America, every day ought to be a day of thanksgiving! We were born at this particular time in the history of the world. We were born in a spotless delivery room in an American hospital instead of a steaming shelter in the dark jungles of the Amazon or a mud hut in Africa! We have the privilege of going to school with capable instructors while millions around the world, without a schoolbook, sit or squat on a dirt floor listening to a missionary! How does it happen that our children are tucked into warm beds at night with clean, white sheets while millions of babies in the world lie in cold rooms, many in their own filth and vomit? We can sit down to a warm meal whenever we want to and eat too much when millions will know the gnawing pangs of hunger all of their lives. If you can agree that even one of these examples matches your situation, you have something to be thankful for!

The psalmist realized after much thought just how blessed we are! Dr. Robert C. Lightner said these words, “Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day or only for the ears of the Hebrew children!” The message extends beyond the children of Israel. The psalmist makes his plea to all the land, for we are all called upon to serve the Lord with gladness and to come before His presence with thanksgiving.

But before we can act upon verses 1 and 2, there must be an understanding of verse 3 which says, “Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

Praise can only be genuine when we know Who God is. Now the best place to find out about the greatness of our God is in the Word of God! Here’s what the Scriptures say, Psalms 33:6-9 says, “By the word of the Lord were the heavens made… For he spoke, and it was done…” Mark 10:27 reminds us,  “With God all things are possible.” Ephesians 3:20 tells us, “…He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…” It is no wonder that Jeremiah asks the question in Jeremiah 32:27,  “Is there anything too hard for God?”

When we know this God, like Lightner we, too, realize that, Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day! And if nothing more, that is the message that I want to leave with you today!

Once the greatness of God is realized, then there ought to be excitement!  Notice where the psalmist places emphasis in Psalm 100,

In verse 1, we find the name of the Lord.
In verse 2, we find the name of the Lord.
In verse 3, we find the name of the Lord.
In verse 4, we are told to “Enter his gates with thanksgiving…”
In verse 4, there is also a reason provided for the excitement. Here, the psalmist explains, “For the Lord is good, and his love,” or, as the KJV translates, “his mercy, endures forever. His faithfulness continues through all generations!”

The psalmist helps us to reach the conclusion that warrants another question: “Where would we be without the help of the Lord?” All of our help comes from Him!

The psalmist writes from a perspective of thanksgiving. With this knowledge, we are called to make a joyful noise unto the Lord.  This is a call to worship. Now, to give worship is to give worth to someone or something. We worship God because of Who He is in our lives. When we pause and think about Who He is, it is clear in verse 3 that it is He Who made us and not ourselves.

Alex Haley, the author of Roots, had an unusual picture hanging on his office wall. It was a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. When asked why it was there, Haley answered, “Every time I write something significant, every time I read my words and think that they are wonderful... and I begin to feel proud of myself… I look down at the turtle on top of the fence post and remember that he didn’t get there on his own. He had help!”

No matter who we are or what our accomplishments may be, we all must honestly admit that we’ve had help! Maybe you’re saying, “It was by my own doing that I achieved my level of success.” However, I beg to differ, because in all of our successes, God has been a contributor.

It is God Who wakes you up every morning so that you can go to work! It is God Who blesses you with health and strength to make it through the day! You may be thinking, “No, Sir, it was my alarm clock that woke me up!” If you took your alarm clock down to the local cemetery and allowed it to ring all day long, not a single one there would awaken! If they did, you wouldn’t stay around long enough to see why!

THANKSGIVING is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic. You might be wondering what I mean. THANKSGIVING, like a vaccine, can prevent the invasion of a disgruntled, discouraged spirit. Like an antitoxin, THANKSGIVING can prevent the effects of the poisons of cynicism, criticalness, and grumbling. Like an antiseptic, a spirit of THANKSGIVING can soothe and heal the most troubled spirit.

LET ME CLOSE WITH A STORY: There was a man who served as a medical missionary for many years in India. He served in an area where there was progressive blindness. People were born with healthy vision, but there was something in that area that caused people to lose their sight as they matured.

This medical missionary developed a process that would stop progressive blindness. So people came to him and he performed his operation, and they would leave realizing that they would have become blind…but now they were going to be able to see for the rest of their lives.

The people never said “Thank you,” to this missionary because that phrase was not in their dialect. Instead, they spoke a word that meant, “I will tell your name.” Wherever they went, they would tell the name of the missionary who had cured their blindness. They had received something so wonderful that they eagerly proclaimed it!

When we think about the goodness of our Lord, we ought to be like these people. For God waking us up this morning closed in our right mind, we ought to be saying, “I will tell Your name!” For His blessings of life, health and strength, we ought to be saying, “Lord, I will tell Your name!” For God giving us food and shelter, and blessing us with good families, we ought to be telling Him, “Lord, I will tell Your name!”

WHEN WE REALIZE THE GOODNESS OF OUR GOD, THANKSGIVING COMES DAILY, NOT ANNUALLY, AS WE, TOO, GROW EAGER TO PROCLAIM HIS GOODNESS AND TELL OTHERS OF HIS NAME!

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