Psalm 105:1-3 – O Give Thanks (2020) – Bible study

Psalm 105:1-3 O Give Thanks In the winter of 1620, the Pilgrims landed in the area which today is called Plymouth, Massachusetts. The winter was harsh and the settlers were unprepared for the weather. Many died. When spring came, the colony began planting their first crops. That fall, with help from their Indian neighbors, they gathered in their first harvest. With a spirit of excitement, the Pilgrims invited the Indians, who had helped them, to join in a three-day feast to celebrate Gods faithfulness. The meal consisted of wild turkey, venison and vegetables. This was the first thanksgiving feast and it took place in 1621. Two years later, in 1623, Governor William Bradford, of the Plymouth Colonies, made the proclamation: Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all you Pilgrims, with your wives and your little ones, do gather at the meeting house, on the hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord, one-thousand, six-hundred, and twenty-three, and the third year since you Pilgrims landed on Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to your pastor and render thanksgiving to Almighty God for all His blessings. Todays Thanksgiving has changed. Most have left the "thanksgiving" out. Today it is more a "Be Happy" holiday. People still meet with family and maybe some friends, but instead of being thankful, todays activities are hunt, shot, or watch ballgames. In the midst of this, our holiday has been infiltrated by God-haters who have rewritten and redacted Thanksgivings history to exclude God. Even those who may want to celebrate a genuine Thanksgiving are no longer sure Who they should thank. I read the following story a few years ago: A fourth grader was assigned to write the history of Thanksgiving for a school report but the class was also cautioned about making their report a religious speech. So the child summarized his report as follows: This evening, lets remind ourselves of some truths concerning Thanksgiving. I. Giving thanks to God is a choice. A. Let me read the verses where God gave the Thanksgiving Offering to the Jews. Lev 7:12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving, then he shall offer with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes mingled with oil. 1. Notice the first word of this passage, IF. 2. There are no threats, no requirement, and no demands. 3. Rather, there was an opportunity and an invitation to that opportunity. 4. That choice is echoed in another passage about this offering. Leviticus 22:29 AND WHEN YE WILL offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving unto the LORD, offer it at your own will. B. In fact, every sacrifice is given as an option. Lev 1:1 And the LORD called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the congregation, saying, 2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, IF ANY MAN OF YOU BRING AN OFFERING UNTO THE LORD, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and of the flock. 1. No offering, given to the Lord, was to be a forced offering. 2. Even to this day, God would not force anyone, anywhere to thank Him. C. However, it is Gods desire that we give thanks to Him. 1. \#Luke 17:11-14\ Ten men who were lepers were healed of their disease by Jesus. The story ends this way: Luke 17:14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed. 15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 And fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks: and he was a Samaritan. 17 And Jesus answering said, Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine? 18 There are not found that returned to give glory to God, save this stranger. 2. The silence that story ends with is deafening. a. There were ten men healed, yet only one returned to thank God. b. I am certain that every man had his own reason for not returning to give thanks. (1) Each man, no doubt, had a family he had not been within years. (2) Im certain that they were all so happy and filled with wonder, that they probably were not thinking clearly. (3) I imagine each was anxious to get on with a life they thought they would never have. c. Instead of a single voice of praise that afternoon, there should have been a chorus. d. Yet for whatever the reason, 9 men chose NOT to give God thanks. 3. A man named Doug Henry wrote his own explanation of why the other nine did not return to thank Jesus, entitled "How the Nine Justified Their Ungrateful Heart." The first waited to see if the healing was real. The second waited to see if it would last. The third said he would thank Jesus later. The fourth decided he never had leprosy to begin with. The fifth said he would have gotten well anyway. The sixth gave the glory to the priests. The seventh reasoned that Jesus didnt do anything anyway. The eighth one proclaimed that any Rabbi could have done the same. The ninth excused himself by exclaiming, I was already much improved. D. While God gives us a choice to thank Him or not, it is my belief that those who choose to thank God, will have more things for which to be thankful. II. Giving thanks to God is a sacrifice. A. As already mentioned, God created a physical sacrifice in the Old Testament called a Thanksgiving Offering. 1. It costs the people of that day something to offer it. 2. Our thanksgiving today is no less a sacrificial offering to God. B. Two things about a sacrifice. 1. A sacrifice must cost you something. a. The very word used implies something costly is being given. It is a SACRIFICE. b. Does it cost us something to thank God? Yes it does. (1) It costs us some of our time. Not much. Perhaps just a second or two of it is a ritualistic offering, but maybe a whole minute or soul if it is from the heart. Perhaps that is too high a cost. (2) It costs us some of our attention. We are naturally ungrateful. To thank God not only on Thanksgiving but every day, we must purposely keep God on our minds and hearts. That is a difficulty that requires us retraining ourselves. Perhaps that is too high a cost? (3) It costs us some our pride. (a) For a human to thank God demonstrates the relationship between God and man is the relations of the Giver to the receivers. i. Does God thank us? ii. No. Why? Because we have nothing to give Him. iii. Should we thank God? iv. Yes. Why? Because we would have nothing except God gave it to us. James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. (b) It grates against mans pride to acknowledge that we cannot provide for ourselves, that we are dependent upon the God of Heaven for our very existence. (c) BUT WE ARE! We are dependent upon God for life, strength, ability, reason, and breathe. (d) Perhaps that is too high a cost to pay. (4) Whatever the cost it must be high for we offer God so little in the way of thanksgiving. 2. Sacrifice is an act of worship. a. Jews and Christians are not the only ones to offer sacrifices to a deity. (1) Heathens offer their sacrifices too. (2) And although there are NO OTHER DEITIES, God curses that practice. (a) Why? Why would God be bothered if there are no other gods. (b) Because giving praise, even to an imaginary being is worship, and God is the only One worthy of worship. b. So when we choose to praise God, we are worshipping Him. (1) Have you worshipped God today? (2) Have you rendered to God any praise? III. Giving thanks to God is a command. A. It might seem a little contradictory that I first said that giving thanks is a choice and now say that giving thanks is a command. 1. However it is. 2. When God gave us a freewill, He gave us a choice to obey His commands or not, but that does not change the fact that God has commanded us to do certain things, among them to give Him thanks. B. There are many verses where we are commanded to give God thanks. Psalm 50:14 Offer unto God thanksgiving; and pay thy vows unto the most High: Psalms 147:1 Praise ye the LORD: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. 1Chron 16:8 Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. C. These commands are not just in the Old Testament. Colossians 3:17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. 1Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. D. These commands make it clear. 1. As good Americans, we ought to celebrate Thanksgiving. 2. But as good Christians, we ought to give thanks to God every day for the many blessings that He has bestowed upon us. I want to close by reading something that I wrote in 2009. Its in an answer to a question that I dont have the time to discuss in detail but believe it is too important not to mention at all. It is entitled: Why should I be thankful? Why should I be thankful? A full stomach, a job, and luxuries that would make the richest king of the last century green with envy. Perhaps you own your own home, perhaps you rent, but either way it is built secure and sound. It is your own private living quarters. You leave it with the assumption that your worldly possessions, which themselves are blessings, will be secured until you return; and you are seldom if ever disappointed. In addition. you probably have an automobile that has heat, cooling, and entertainment. You probably have more clothes than you could wear in a week and more shoes than you should possess at all. But why should I be thankful? Most have good health. Most are free from perpetual pain, most can stand on their own two feet and walk unassisted. If you cannot now, you probably could at one time. Most have strong enough arms to do what you need to do and sound enough minds to reason with. If you do not have all of these you probably have doctors who help you, medicines that make your life more tolerable, and family members or friends who aid and comfort you. And if even all of this is missing, you can have hope in eternity of having a body with no pain, no weakness, and no short comings. But why should I be thankful? You have been given life, liberty, freedom, and the privilege to be an American. You have the opportunity to worship, to be saved, to be lost, to own a Bible, to listen to this message or to get up and walk out if you do desire. You can be thankful for the education you have received, the fact that you can read and write, work whatever job you can train yourself to work, that you likely have a forty hour work week with time and one-half for the hours over that you work. You can live wherever you desire, marry whomever you wish, have as many or as few children as you want and raise your children in whatever manner you deem appropriate. You have the right to protect yourself, determine your countrys form of government, elect your officials, and even run for office yourself if you so choose. You have access to a judicial system, an appeal system, a political system, and a free-enterprise system. But why should I be thankful? Whether you have accepted salvation or not, it has been provided for you. God came in the flesh to die in your place. He taught us about Himself, about ourselves, about sin, and about freedom from sin. Jesus supplied us with the Manual of Life. He gives teachingwith illustrationson finances, child rearing, marriage, success, peace, happiness, ethics, and overcoming. No matter what you have done, your past can be forgiven and your future is as bright as the promises of God. The remainder of this life is yours; the Bible is yours; the Holy Ghost is yours; the church is yours; a ministry can be yours; and eternity is yours. All of this means you have hope. Hope in this life and hope in the next. Of all the many blessings God has given us, perhaps that hope is the greatest of all. But still I ask, "Why should I be thankful?" No, the question should have been all along, "How can I not thank Him, the One who has blessed me with so much?"