Being thankful to God
Psalm 95:1-7
Introduction-
Psalm 95:1-7
You cannot after reading this Psalm not understand that we need a heart of thanksgiving toward God.
From the very first verse we see that worship is individual and it is corporate.
“Come let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout aloud to the rock of our salvation..”
This Psalm is written by a priest or levite calling God’s people in the temple to worship the one true God.
It is a call to remember the security Yahweh has given the people of Israel, and to act accordingly.
This is a two part message this morning. I want you to see these two parts.
Be thankful for who God is/ and that He desires to have a relationship with you.
Be thankful for what God has done for you.
Illustration-
Alex Haley- author of Roots, has a picture hanging in his office. It is a picture of a turtle on top of a fence post. Why is it there?
To remind him that he didn’t get where he was on his own, he had help.
Psalm 100- tells us that we should praise the Lord continuously for what He has done, in fact, it says that we should enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.
Romans 1:21- sums up a lot a people today
“For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
Many people are not thankful!
They forget where God has brought them from or they are selfish. Both are a big mistake.
Thankfulness is the opposite of selfish, a selfish person says,
“ I deserve what comes to me!,”
“ I have made a sacrifice!”
“ I worked hard to get to where I am!”
A grateful person, a mature person realizes that life is a gift from God, and any blessings we receive come from Him.
One says Thank-me! And pats himself/herself on the back.
The other says that everything I have , everything that I am belongs to God.
Everything he has given me, everything He has done for me is reason to praise God for His goodness.
The Psalm has two elements woven in: (1) call to praise the God of all the earth
A call to praise the creator of all the universe. Talk about overwhelming thoughts. The creator of the universe desires to have a relationship with me.
The one that created gravity to keep you right now from floating away.
The God that declares to us that every good and perfect gift comes from God above.
The God that said He knew you from your mothers womb.
Listen,
1. When is the last time you just said thank you to the Lord?
2. When is the last time you reflected on His goodness to you?
3. When is the last time you came to him without an agenda? You came just because you wanted to be with Him.
“Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving, let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise.”
Illustration-
In 1620, 2 ships left England in a quest to find the liberty to worship God as they felt right. Soon into the journey, one ship had mechanical problems including leaks that forced them to evacuate the ship. 42 passengers from the Speedwell ship boarded and joined the 60 passengers of the Mayflower to come to America. With great expectation and excitement they journeyed but soon found more troubles and difficulties. The passengers began to be sick, they face tremendous storms, but through it the ship anchored in America and the first thing they did was praise the Lord!
Thankfulness is not only acknowledging God when He does great things for you. It is acknowledging God for who He is ….. The God of the universe.
Why did Israel praise God?
Because He was above all gods!
There was no corner in the universe that was not in his hand.
The pagans worshipped all kinds of different gods and acknowledge them only as they felt they were receiving something from them.
Society today, willing :
to push ands shove to touch a celebrity hand
camp out days in a line to receive a concert tickets
Willing to spend money they don’t have to see someone they had put on a pedestal of their heart before God.
My God (4)
“In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is His , for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our maker, for He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under His care.”
The mountaintop and the sea and everything in between belongs to the Lord. He created it. It is an exhortation to submit to the Lord with obedient hearts.
A bent knee is not enough, we are the people of His pasture and we are called to praise Him.
Anyone besides me this morning get a wake up call.
God , I am thankful for what you have done and I come to you this morning with no other agenda than to thank you.
No sermons or jobs to carve out.
No bills to pay.
No relationships to repair.
I just want to come into your presence and say thank you.
I get excited when I think of you as my redeemer.
I get excited when my darkness turns to light.
I get that I have to have enemies so that you can work in my life and do the things that need to happen.
I thank you lord for the love you have shown me in my life.
I thank you Lord that death has no more sting in my life.
I thank you there is now no condemnation for those who are committed in Christ Jesus, because you have set me free.
I thank you Lord when I ask you “why you made me like this? You answered “That I raised you for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Closing,
Remember, I said this Psalm had two elements:
1. Call to praise the Lord of the universe.
2. Acknowledge by submissive attitude and obedient heart the Lord’s kingship over His people.
The God that desires our praise is the God of our salvation.
The God who proclaims that before you were born, He knew you! That He has a plan for your life!
Wants to have fellowship with us.!
Transition to Communion. (Do what is necessary to transition)
If the ushers would prepare for communion please (please come front)
Give them the bread- distribute the bread.
As Nazarenes we believe in an open communion. It means that you do not have to be a member of this church to have communion with us.
You do have to be a believer in Christ to take Communion.
If you are not a believer this morning, and the Lord has been speaking to you about surrendering you r life to Him, you can become a new believer this morning by acknowledging Him.
Repent and repeat after me, I acknowledge that I need a savior this morning.
I believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins on the cross, and that God resurrected Jesus from death unto life. Because He lives, I can have everlasting life because of Him.
Accepting that with your whole heart, you are a child of God and you can take communion for the first time this morning
You should all have the bread by this time. If not please raise your hand and we will get it to you.
The Lord sitting around the table said these words:
(23)
“For I received from the Lord what I also passed unto you, the Lord Jesus on the night that he was betrayed, take bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is in you, do this in remembrance of me.”
Ushers please pass the cups out
Take this time to reflect on how good God is to you.
Just desire to be in His presence-
Maybe a Word about the cup. (Mike Nordai, Rich Hartshorn)
(25)
“in the same way, after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood, do this, whenever you drink it in remembrance of me. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lords death until he comes.”
