Why We Should Have Thanksgiving
Psalm 95:1-7 "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms. For the LORD [is] a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand [are] the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills [is] his also. The sea [is] his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry [land]. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he [is] our God; and we [are] the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand."
Many in our country do not know that the primary and most widely celebrated family holiday in America is Thanksgiving Day. It is the day that everyone who is anyone would like to go back to his or her roots and spend the day enjoying a special traditional home cooked Thanksgiving meal with their family. No matter how far one roams from the land of his birth, this remains the case. As one with this heritage, I would like to share with you some facts about this special day and its origins.
In 1621 a little band of pilgrims, who had fled the religious persecution of an established church and sought religious freedom in a new world, paused in their struggle for survival to feast and give thanks to God for His blessings upon them. They feasted and gave thanks, in spite of the fact that the hardships involved in hewing a haven with their bare hands from the somber, granite hills of Plymouth, had already taken the heavy toll of half their number.
Their meal was sparse. It primarily consisted of such things as native turkey, maize, pumpkin and cranberries; food the native Indian tribes had shown them how to gather and prepare. It is said that when they sat down for that first Thanksgiving meal they found five kernels of corn on each plate. This served as a reminder of the hardships they had endured during the previous year when rations had been reduced to five kernels of corn for each person each day.
A little over 150 years later, in 1789, George Washington, the first President of the new nation, issued this national proclamation of Thanksgiving, "Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly implore His protection and favor . . .etc.." Some seventy-five years later President Abraham Lincoln made and proclaimed the last Thursday of November a perpetual national Day of Thanksgiving. Even though the nation had just lost over a million of her sons in an awful and deadly civil war, the aftermath of which would soon take the President’s own life, there was still much for which to be thankful.
I am sure there were many, especially those who had lost life, limb and loved ones, who may have said, "But just what do we have to be thankful for?" That is understandable. But those who know the truth about the sinfulness of man and the greatness of God and his love, mercy and forgiveness will always have more than sufficient reason to praise and thank Him in every circumstance. "Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." (I Thess. 5:16-18)
The attitude of the King of England when he also proclaimed a day of thanksgiving after losing the Revolutionary War might well be worth emulating. "Why," his chaplain asked, "Would you wish to give thanks. For losing thirteen bright jewels (colonies) from your crown?" "No," the king replied. "For adding millions of pounds to the national debt?" the chaplain queried. "No," the king repeated. "For tens of thousands of our race being destroyed?" The chaplain persisted. "No," said the king with great vehemence, "Thank God that matters are no worse!"
In Australia we do not have a national Thanksgiving Day. We do not have a day set aside especially for giving thanks and praise to God for His blessings upon our nation. Of course, this does not mean that the people of God in our land do not have as much to be thankful for as others who have a national day of thanksgiving. Nor does it mean we should not pause at every opportunity and especially give thanks to our great God for His bounteous blessings upon our great land. So perhaps you will indulge a nostalgic expatriate as he shares with you, "WHY WE SHOULD HAVE THANKSGIVING!"
1. WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS FOR GOD’S GIFT OF GRACE. 2. WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS FOR THE GREATNESS OF GOD. 3. WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS FOR THE GOODNESS OF GOD. 4. WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS FOR THE GRACIOUSNESS OF GOD.
WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS FOR THE GIFT OF GOD’S GRACE. "O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation." (Psalm 95:1)) Notice He not only gives salvation, but HE IS OUR SALVATION! What a tremendous blessing to know that God’s gift of salvation is personified in Him. We have not just been saved from our sin and its wages, but have been saved in Him and unto Him. Moses recognized this. "And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD . . " (Exodus 14:13) "The LORD [is] my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he [is] my God, ..." (Exodus 15:2)
We can be thankful that our salvation is as solid as a Rock, because it is founded upon the Rock. "He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings" (Psalm 40:2) This is an amazing song describing God’s salvation and complete deliverance from sin.
It describes graphically the utter misery of the man in sin. A pit in those days was a large hole in the ground once used for either the storage of water or grain. When the pit deteriorated to the point it could no longer hold water or keep grain dry, it soon became a "pit of destruction." The bottom would fill with quick-sand like stinking, sticky, boggy and miry mud. Small animals would fall in and be trapped and die; adding to the stench of the mucky mix of mud and rotting vegetation.
David uses such a word picture to portray his condition in sin. Visualize an ancient pit, perhaps fifteen feet deep and ten feet in diameter. There was commonly a stone lid on top with a one-half meter hole in the top. In the bottom is miry clay, one-half meter or more deep. Think of the poor victim in this cold, deserted, dark, dank, damp and musty place.
He can not stand with comfort. His feet are caught and sucked down into the viscous clay. The more he struggles the deeper he sinks and the greater the stink. His efforts will not free him and he has no firm foundation upon which to stand. He cannot sit down nor lie down with any expectation of really rising up again. How can he either rest or walk in such miry clay? It is dark down there and the only glimmer of light is high above him. Besides that, he’s lonely, sad, depressed and frustrated. All his efforts to escape come to naught. As time passes, he becomes hopeless and perhaps hallucinatory; hungering and thirsting for food and water that are always seem just beyond his grasp. What does his future hold? Things are only going to get worse, not better.
The parallel is clear. The sinner’s effort to justify himself and escape the eternal consequences of sin, only condemn him the more. The stinking and sticky sin that characterize his life build up and weigh him down more and more. He has no standing before God. There is no rest for the wicked the prophet says. Nor can he walk with the Holy One with whom he does not agree. He is a prisoner in his sin. He’s without God and hope in this world or the world to come. He cannot possible escape without outside help - and such help must come from above.
Imagine then, a shout of rescue and salvation from above. A long strong arm reaches down and plucks the prisoner from the dark pit of disaster and despair. He’s is lifted up, up, up to the warmth and sunlight above. Washing and cleansing him thoroughly from the stench of the mud of the pit, his Savior sets his feet upon a sold rock and gives him new life! What a deliverance! What salvation!
It is proper and scriptural that salvation should be at the very top of our list of thanksgiving blessings. What could we place above it? It is said that the great financier and one of the world’s richest men in his day, J. P. Morgan, left the knowledge of Jesus Christ as Savior as the first clause in his will to his heirs and said in doing so, "This is the only possession of which I can and will boast." When the seventy returned after their great spiritual tour de force, boasting of the great power they had exercised over Satan’s demonic world, Jesus our Savior said, "Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven." (Luke 10:20) Yes, we should have thanksgiving for salvation, the gift of God.
WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS FOR THE GREATNESS OF GOD. "For the LORD [is] a great God, and a great King above all gods." (Psalm 95:3) He is great in His person. This is the real good news. No one was ever born as He was born. No one ever lived as He lived. No one ever died as he died. No one has ever come forth from the grave as He came forth. No one has ever ascended to heaven as He did. No one has ever prepared a heaven as He has. No one has promised to come again from heaven as He has. I can recall reading of a great leader who asked one of his aides what he thought he might do to become as great and famous as Jesus. The aide replied, "It’s simple. You only need to lead a perfect life, be crucified for the sin of others, be buried and on the third day rise from the grave. That’s what made him great"
He is also great in His power. He is the only one with power over death, hell and the grave. "I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Rev. 1:18) Those who know what it means to lose close loved ones can find comfort in this great power. "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." (I Thess. 4:18) He is great in His power to save. "Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him," (Heb. 7:25) He is great in His power to pardon. "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;.." (Psalm 103:2-4) His pardon is free, full and forever.
He is also great in His creative and controlling power. Not only does He have the whole world in His hands - But He also created what He holds in His hands. In our day of weapons of mass destruction, killer viruses and bacteria and international terrorism, we can be thankful that our great and powerful God is ultimately in control. Nothing can occur in His creation without His knowledge and permission. The world’s most feared despots are ultimately subject to His control and will answer to Him someday for their every evil deed. In the Middle East and in other geopolitical hot spots, no move can be made that is beyond our great God’s control. His Word assures us that eventually all the pieces of the puzzle will come together and all will come out right for His peculiar people. We know that because we have seen the end of the story!
WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS THE GOODNESS OF GOD. We are called to kneel and bow down before our Maker, the good and holy God of this universe. Isaiah gives us an insight into how we should come into His presence with thanksgiving. He is awestruck with God’s holiness and prostrates himself before His Maker in silent humility. In the Revelation the whole heaven was silent for a half hour in testimony and tribute to the goodness and holiness of the Lamb of God.
Real fitness for true service is based upon a similar spirit of humble adoration. Busy schedules with every second filled with activities that do not allow for time to draw nigh unto and give thanks to a good and holy God could not please and glorify Him. We are not only to be workers for Him but worshippers of Him. The song writer said, "We’ll work ’till Jesus comes.." But before the work comes the worship. Perhaps this is the message of the signs over church entrances that say, "Enter to worship, leave to serve." In light of all this, contemporary worship formats that display a certain irreverence and a "good buddy ’ familiarity with the good and holy God of this universe, are scary and seem to some to border on blasphemy.
WE SHOULD GIVE THANKS THE GRACIOUSNESS OF GOD. "For he [is] our God; and we [are] the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand." (Psalm 95:7) He is gracious in His provision. He provides access into His very throne room. "Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." (Heb. 4:16) He provides all we need to serve Him and support His work. "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." ( Phil. 4:19)
Let us give thanks for God’s gracious provision of material benefits of life. "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: . . .Who satisfieth thy mouth with good [things..." (Psalm 103:2, 5) We live in a nation/continent of vast natural and agriculture resources. Besides the vast deposits of coal, iron, bauxite and diamonds, our nation has an estimated 140 million sheep, 40-50 million cattle and exports tens of thousands of tons of cotton, wheat, grain, fruit and other foods to hungry nations in our region. When we consider the teeming masses on our very doorstep, many of whom go to bed at night hungry, we can but praise and thank our God that He has opened His hand of provision to us. "Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing." (Psalm 145:16) When we give thanks for our daily bread we should always remember that the open fingers of God’s gracious hand of provision could close so quickly and easily. When we stand and survey the aisles of our supermarkets, laden with a seemingly infinite variety of wholesome and affordable food, we should always remember those who struggle desperately to grow just a few handfuls of grain to place in the mouths of their children. Then we should say, "Thank you Lord because I know that but for your grace there go I." Oh, how we need to heed the admonition of the Lord to Israel, "When thou hast eaten and art full, then thou shalt bless the LORD thy God for the good land which he hath given thee." (Duet. 8:10)
Let us give thanks to God for His gracious patience. We are not always as patient as we should be. God sometimes enrolls us in the school of hard knocks in order remedy that condition. In contrast, we should thank Him for His constant and continuing patience with us. How often do we fail Him, and yet He forgives us? How often do we stumble and fall like a little child learning to walk and yet He picks us up, brushes us off, and lets us start all over again? We are the clay and He is the patient potter who continues to mould and make us after His will into what we ought to be. Our life is an unfinished painting placed upon the divine easel of the patient painter.
The analogy of the Shepherd and the sheep is very apt, though not necessary complimentary at times to the sheep of His pasture. The sheep can be the dumbest and most hopeless and of all animals. Absolutely helpless in the presence of wolves and other predators. Always wandering off and getting lost and needing to be rescued. Easily frightened and scattered. Does this sound like anyone you know? But we can thank God for the patient Shepherd Who will, with a heart of love and concern, seek even the one who has gone astray. "For he [is] our God; and we [are] the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand." (Psalm 95:7)
We should thank God for His gracious protection. Sometimes we are like Elisha’s servant and are blinded to the reality and dimensions of the great blessing of His gracious protection. In order to really see it we need to understand the vindictive war Satan’s wishes to wage against us. He would like to see the the terrorists succeed in their quest to obtain and explode WMD’s in large cities and population centres of our world. He would like to see epidemics of aids, bubonic plaque, small pox, anthrax and other more exotic diseases, sweep planet earth and especially hurt and destroy the people of God. Since he is the god of this world and we wrestle against his principalities and powers and rulers of darkness in high places, why does this not happen?
When we consider Job’s experience we could ask in a more personal and practical sense, "Why didn’t Satan destroy you, your loved ones and your home last night, since he would obviously like to do so?" The psalmist gives us the only viable and believable answer, "Bless the Lord O my soul . . . who healeth all thy diseases; Who redeemeth thy li fe from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies . ." (Psalm 103:3-4) And again, "The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them." (Psalm 34:7) Just think for a moment about the times injury or death has perhaps brushed you by. Most of us can remember times when a split second made the difference between destruction and survival. I can name a few, but I am sure there are many more that only God knows about. Perhaps when we get to heaven we will be blessed to have a "video replay" of the times the Lord’s hand has been upon us, protecting us from doom and disaster and giving us a new lease on life on earth. " Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" (Heb. 1:14)
When we thank God for His gracious protection we should always remember the blessings of good health. Why are we not overcome with disease and illness every day of our life? It is because He neutralizes and negates the effect of sin upon our environment and our body and graciously gives us good health. "He heals all our diseases." Do we have to meet a man with a white cane and seeing eye dog before we can truly thank God for our eyes and good sight? Do we need to see a paralytic in a wheel chair before we can thank God for the use of our lower limbs?
Do we need to hear the awful wail of an ambulance before we can thank God for daily giving us traveling grace? Do we need to visit the intensive care ward in a hospital before we can thank God for the health to live an abundant life? Do we need to see a hearse go rolling by before we can thank God for sparing our loved ones that we might enjoy their companionship for one more day? I have been asked a number of times, "Do you believe in divine healing?" I always reply, "Yes, all healing is divine!"
We should thank God for His gracious providence. This means we should daily gratefully recognize and acknowledge the operation of the central truth of Christian existence in our lives, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose." (Ro. 8:28) As I came to this place in this message, my wife knocked on my door and came into study and asked me to come and share our evening Thanksgiving meal. I had spent Thanksgiving morning knocking on doors and the afternoon sharing the gospel with two young couples in my church study so we had our meal at six. Since the eighteen people in our family are scattered all over Australia and the world, there were only four of us for the meal.
But before we went to the table, she said she would like to share with me an excerpt from the book she had been reading. Here is what she shared from Elizabeth Elliot’s, "Keep A Quiet Heart."
"Brenda Foltz went rock climbing and lost her contact lens among the boulders and finally gave up her search for it in despair - then the story continues) "I was disappointed and anxious about getting a new contact so far away from home. As we sat and surveyed the world from such a gloriously high prospective, the fragment of a verse popped into my head: "The eyes of God go to and fro through the whole earth." God knows exactly where my contact is this moment from His high vantage point, the amazing thought struck me. But I’ll never see it again, I concluded. So, still glum, I headed down the path to the bottom where the others were preparing to climb. About half an hour later another girl set out where I had also begun my climb. She had no inkling of the missing contact. But there, at the steep bottom of the rock face, she let out an excited cry: ’Hey you guys - did anyone lose a contact?’ I rushed over to her continued yelling, ’There’s an ANT carrying a contact down the mountain!
Sure enough. Special delivery! I bent down, retrieved my contact from the hard working ant, doused it with water and put it back in my eye, rejoicing. I was in awe, just as if my Father had just given me a big hug and said, "My precious daughter, I care about every detail of your life."
I wrote to my family. My dad drew a cartoon portraying an ant, lugging a big contact five times its size. The ant was saying to God, ’Lord, I don’t understand why You want me to drag this thing down. What use is it anyway? I don’t even know what it is and I certainly can’t eat it and it is so big and heavy. Oh well, if you say so, Lord, I’ll try but it seems like a useless piece of junk to me.’ I marvel at God’s ways and how He chooses to reveal His mercy in ways far beyond our human comprehension."
God’s gracious providence truly is amazing. You see, our grown up granddaughter ate our Thanksgiving meal with us. My wife’s reading brought to mind a day when my granddaughter was only ten. She had come up from New South Wales to spend holidays with us. She had gotten her first small watch for her birthday. That afternoon I took her to the beach.
On the way down the long winding path through the sand and sea grass she somehow dropped her tiny watch without being aware of the loss. After her swim, she missed her watch and we spent half an hour searching the sand all over the beach where we had placed our towels. On our way back to the car, with the innocence of a child, she asked me to stop along the path and pray with her that someone might find her watch or that her mother, who had given her the watch, might not be hurt because she had lost it.
As we knelt together to pray, she placed her hand in the tall grass growing from the deep sand beside the path. We had only been praying a minute or so when she felt something underneath her hand and I heard her cry, "I’ve found it! God has answered my prayer. He’s given me back my watch!" In my mind and experience I felt the so-called "odds" against this happening in an accidental way would been mind boggling. So did my granddaughter. We should have Thanksgiving to praise and thank God for even His smallest mercies!
