during the types and shadows
of the ceremonial worship of God in the Old Testament, the
children of Israel were taught of God to observe many holy days
and Sabbath days, special days of thanksgiving, of praise, of
adoration to God. And while we observe None of
those holy days and none of those Sabbath days in this gospel age,
because we're expressly forbidden of God to do so. It is not a
matter of judgment or discernment or indifference. Colossians chapter
two, verse 16, expressly forbids us to observe any holy day or
Sabbath day of any kind. We don't observe any holy place. For the believer, for those who
worship God in spirit and in truth, every day is a Sabbath
day. Every place is a holy place.
We worship our God and rest in him always, everywhere worshiping
him. But we do have a blessed, blessed
day coming on us this Thursday, Thanksgiving. I have no regard,
I hope you have none, for the religious Ceremonies and religious
connotations that men make concerning Christmas and Easter, those things
are purely remnants of Babylonian idolatry, resurrected by papacy
and maintained by folks in this day. We don't observe any religious
significance to Easter or Christmas, December the 25th or Easter Sunday
or Good Friday or whatever other things are associated with it.
We have no regard for those things, no more than we do for Jewish
Sabbath days and holy days. Thanksgiving is somewhat different.
While it is not a holiday, it is a delightful national, I mean,
it's not a holy day, it is a delightful national holiday. And we have
its roots in our pilgrim forefathers in this country who worshiped
God, giving thanks to him for his bounty. observing once a
year the bounty of God in his providence and grace. Happy,
happy, happy I would be if on the last Thursday of every November,
our nation gave thanks to God for his providence and his grace. What a different place this nation
might be. Sadly, for most people, most
around us, most of our friends, most of our kindred. Thanksgiving
Day is just a day of celebrating and feasting and having a good
time and not much more. I hope for you who are gods,
you will not only worship God yourself, consciously giving
thanks to him, but that he might give you opportunity as you sit
together with your family at the Thanksgiving table to lead
your family in thanks to God. My text this evening is going
to be Psalm 103, but I want us to begin in First Chronicles
chapter 16. Here David has brought the ark
of God up to Jerusalem. You remember he tried to do it
before, but it didn't follow God's counsel. created a breach
the Lord made a breach between him and Israel because of their
unbelief and disobedience and now David brought the ark of
God up and dancing and leaping before the Ark of God because
it portrayed and symbolized redemption by our Redeemer and the salvation
of our souls, the reconciliation of our souls to God by the precious
blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. David understood that. He recognized
that and he leaped and danced before the Ark as he carried
it up to Jerusalem. And the day he brought it to
its place in Jerusalem, look in verse eight, 1 Chronicles
16, David says, give thanks unto the Lord. Give thanks unto the
Lord. Thanksgiving, as Brother Mark
said in his prayer, I think, is always in season. Every child
of Adam living on this earth ought to give thanks to God.
reading years ago in one of Spurgeon's brief comments on something.
I don't remember where it was. He made this observation. He
said, even a bird or a little chick, when it takes a drink
of water, lifts its head to heaven as if to give thanks to God.
Every living soul on this earth ought to give thanks to God continually
for his great mercy and grace. Then David says, call upon his
name. The word really is worship him. To call upon the name of
the Lord is to worship the Lord. It's not just the expression
of the lips. It's not just saying something,
but rather it is bowing to God, kissing his hand, worshiping
him. Make known his deeds among the
people. This is how we worship him. We
declare to men everywhere as God gives us opportunity, the
deeds of God, his works of creation, his works of providence and his
works of grace. And then he says in verse nine,
sing unto him, sing Psalms unto him. Somehow there is a connection. I don't know what the connection
is between singing and laughter. There's a connection between
singing and joy. There's a connection between
singing and the moving of your heart. And the psalmist writes
by inspiration, as do the writers of the New Testament, teaching
us to give thanks to God with psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord. Singing
with the lips seems to loosen the heart and breaks forth into
thanksgiving. Talk ye of his wondrous works. I write the hymns I write for
purpose, for a reason. There are not many hymns in our
day, written in our day, that have anything at all to do with
the work of God. In our hymn book, if we took
out of it every hymn that's not fit to sing, you might have 100,
150 songs left in it. There are just not many in there
because most of the hymn books and most of the singing and most
of what passes for worship is centered in man, his work, his
feelings, and his aspiration. Our songs of praise ought always
to be filled with God, his work, his grace, and his mercy, all
speaking of the wondrous things of our God, teaching and admonishing
one another in the songs we sing. Look at verse 10. Glory ye in
his holy name. Boast in the Lord. Trust in the
Lord. Glory in him. Let him that glorieth
glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the
Lord, which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in
the earth. For in these things I delight,
saith the Lord. God delights that we glory in
Him. He delights in His own loving
kindness, His own judgment, and His own righteousness. And as
we delight in that, glorying in Him, God is delighted. Let the heart of them rejoice
that seek the Lord. You who worship God, We who are
gods, you and I who seek the Lord. That's what it is to worship
and serve him. Seek the Lord, seek his will,
seek his honor, seek his way, seek the knowledge of him. We
who worship God, oh, how we ought to rejoice all the time. I don't mean put on a show of
joy. I don't mean act giddy and silly. I mean rejoice with the joy of
faith. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say rejoice. What
does that mean? Let your moderation be known
to all men. Your ease of mind. Your ease of heart. Your ease of character. Your moderation. Your gentleness. Let it be known to all men, be
men and women, walking before God with faith, unruffled, unruffled
by the things you see, unruffled by the things you experience,
unruffled by the evil around you, unruffled by anything done
to you or against you. Let your moderation be known
unto all men, the Lord's at hand. There's no reason why we should
ever be disturbed by anything. I didn't say we aren't disturbed
by anything. I said there is no reason why
anyone believing God should ever be disturbed by anything. This is the will of God. This
is the will of God. Pick up in First Chronicles 16
verse 11. Seek the Lord and his strength. Seek his face continually. Remember
his marvelous works that he had done, his wonders and the judgments
of his mouth. Oh, ye seed of Israel, his servant.
Ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. He is the Lord our God. His judgments are in all the
earth. Be ye mindful always of his covenant. You see his judgments in the
earth. But when you see his judgments in the earth, be mindful of his
covenant, the covenant that he made with you, the covenant made
on your behalf, the covenant of his grace and mercy for you.
And then it tells how that he led Israel through the nations. And down in verse 21, they went
from one kingdom to another, and he suffered no man to do
them wrong. Now I read that and scratched
my chin a little bit, read it again and scratched my chin some
more. You read the history of Israel, folks did them wrong
all the time. Read it again. They seldom had
a day. They didn't have someone doing
them wrong. Well, what does this mean? He
suffered no man to do them wrong. Well, nobody really did them
wrong. Nobody injured them. Nobody hurt them. Nobody stopped
them from possessing God's promise. Nobody stopped them from inheriting
God's promised land. But rather, all that transpired
in their day-by-day lives, in all their adversities, came to
pass only by the hand of God moving them to the land of promise. He suffered no man to do them
wrong. Yea, he reproved kings for their
sakes, saying, touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets
no harm. I have no doubt those words may
be read properly as a warning. Don't you injure my people. Don't you harm my people, don't
you dare oppose my people. You court judgment if you oppose
my people. But I think they may be better
read as a word of assurance. God says to all creatures on
earth and in hell, you can't touch my anointed. You can't
do my prophets, those who worship me, any harm. Verse 23, sing
unto the Lord all the earth. Show forth from day to day his
salvation. Declare his glory. Verse 29,
give unto the Lord the glory due his name. How is that? Bring an offering. Come before
him. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Fear before him, be reverent
before God, all the earth. The world also shall be stable,
that it be not moved. Let the heavens be glad and the
earth rejoice. Let men say among the nations,
the Lord reigneth. Let the sea roar and the fullness
thereof. Let the fields rejoice and all
that therein is. Then shall the trees of the woods
sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge
the earth. Now look at verse 34. Oh, give
thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. His mercy endureth forever. Our God is good. His mercy is
relentless. His mercy endures forever. David said, surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever. Goodness and mercy pursue me
all the time. Our God is good in all his character,
good in all his being, good in all his works. Look at verse
35. And say ye, save us, O God of our salvation, and gather
us together and deliver us from the heathen. Save us, gather
us, deliver us, that we may give thanks to thy holy name and glory
in thy praise. The Apostle Paul wrote to the
Thessalonians, and writes to us. He says, in everything give
thanks. In everything give thanks. God,
teach me to obey that command. Teach me by your grace in everything
to give thanks. In everything give thanks for
this reason, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you. I don't know what you have experienced
today, and I don't know what you will experience tomorrow.
Shelby and I plan to go early tomorrow morning over to Lexington,
and we'll have our Thanksgiving dinner with our family over there
tomorrow night, the Lord willing. But I have no idea what will
transpire between now and the end of the day tomorrow. Not
for me, not for you. But this I know. Whatever transpires
through the day, be it good or evil, be it painful or pleasant,
whatever transpires, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you, whatever it is. And God's will is good. God's
will is good. Did you hear me? God's will is
good. we have calls to give thanks
to God. If we trust the Lord Jesus Christ
in proportion to our faith in our Savior, we're content with
him and with his wise and good providence. How little then is my faith. God, forgive me. And if we're
truly content, we're thankful. thankful for all things and in
all things, knowing that all things are of God. Here the Spirit
of God specifically tells us that in everything we experience,
whatever we're experiencing, it is the will of God in Christ
concerning you. In everything give thanks to
God and celebrate his praise. If you want to turn to Colossians
1 for just a minute, The book of Colossians, Paul deals with
this very same thing. Don't you find it amazing how
often in the scripture God teaches us to give thanks and to rejoice
and to joy? Why do you reckon that is? Because
we're prone not to. We are so disinclined to give
thanks, to rejoice, and to joy in our God. Brother Lindsey,
before anybody else came in here, we're talking back in the office,
he said, it's a pity that we generally don't give thanks to
God much more than just this one day a year when we're taught
to give thanks to him. What a pity, what a pity. If
you and I are partakers of Christ, Saved by the grace of God, heirs
of eternal life, our hearts should be filled with thanksgiving to
God continually. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. In Colossians 1, beginning of
verse 12, the Spirit of God gives us several reasons for thanksgiving.
He tells us that he has made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light. Then he tells us in verse
13, that God has delivered us from the power of darkness and
translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. In verse 14,
he tells us we have redemption through his blood and the forgiveness
of sin. Look in verse chapter three,
he picks up the very same thing. Verse 15, let the peace of God
rule in your hearts, to the which also you're called in one body
and be you thankful. Paul admonishes us to be thankful
because this is the will of God. And he admonishes us to be thankful
because thankfulness, thankfulness, real thankfulness, is the secret
to living peaceably in this world. The secret to living peaceably
in this world is thankfulness. This thanksgiving is an act of
faith. that's most honoring to God.
Be thankful, my brother, my sister, for God's electing love. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. We're
bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved
of God, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation. Wonder of wonders, God chose
you. God chose you. And give thanks
to God for the precious blood redemption of our Lord Jesus
Christ. I just wrote a brief article
for a bulletin in December, just a little while before anybody
started coming in here this afternoon or this evening. God has a people
whom he chose in Christ before the world was. And Christ redeemed
those elect people, all those elect people, and only those
elect people with his precious blood. He took our sin, made
it his own, and suffered the wrath of God in our stead, and
brought us out from under the hands of divine justice. Having
satisfied the law of God in our behalf, he redeemed us with his
blood. And those whom He redeemed, He
calls by His Spirit. By almighty, omnipotent, irresistible
grace, He calls them. Those redeemed ones, God's elect,
all of them and only them, and those who are called, He calls
us to believe so that we're born again. By the mighty power, the
omnipotent will, the irresistible grace of God the Holy Spirit,
and having called us, giving us faith in Christ, he keeps
us in his grace. By the revelation of Christ in
us, he declares to us that we are pardoned of all sin. adopted
as the sons and daughters of God Almighty. Behold, what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed on us that we should be called
the children of God, the sons of God. Beloved, now are we the
sons of God. He chose us as his sons from
eternity. He called us his sons by his
grace. And now we cry to him, Abba,
Father. And this great merciful God of
ours has forgiven all our sin. past, present, and future. Sins of the mind, sins of nature,
sins of heart, sins of word, sins of deed. He has forgiven
us all our sins, and He uses that word in the present tense. Forgiveth, forgiveth. What a wonderful thing. He did
it before the world was. He did it at Calvary. But when
he comes and speaks peace to the heart, he freely forgives
our sins. He testifies in us our sins are
forgiven. And if we confess our sins, he's
faithful and just to forgive us our sins. So that as we come
to God confessing our sin, He speaks blessed forgiveness to
our souls. Forgiving, forgiving, forgiving. It is the nature and the character
of our God to forgive. It is not your nature and it
is not my nature. It is not your character and
it is not my character, not by nature. But we're to be imitators
of God because God lives in us. And as God lives in us, he puts
in us a new nature. A nature, a character of forgiveness. Of forgiveness. It's all right,
leave it alone. Nothing more need be said. It's
done. It's forgiven. And give thanks
to God for the blessed, blessed victory of grace that is ours
in Christ Jesus. Thanks be unto God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. I thought about
this a good bit yesterday and today. In Christ, we shall triumph
over all our enemies, the world, the flesh, and the devil. But
more than that, If we belong to God, we shall not fail to
win this warfare. And indeed, we are winning this
warfare. Always. We shall persevere because
we're preserved by grace. We shall be delivered from this
body of death. and our very bodies shall be
delivered from the grave in the resurrection. Be ye thankful. All right. Now, let's turn briefly
to Psalm 103. Psalm 103. In my opinion, this 103rd Psalm,
this Psalm of thanksgiving and praise is without rival in the
literature of the world. This is the language of a man
whose soul has been stirred to praise God by his contemplations
of God's goodness. This Psalm is all praise and
thanksgiving. As you read these 22 verses,
I want you to look for something. Look for a request. Look for a request. David doesn't
ask for a thing. He doesn't ask for a thing. He
simply offers thanks to God, gives praise to God. David tells
us that with thankful hearts, we ought to eulogize God's holy
name. Verse one, bless the Lord, oh
my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Someone said before we can thank
God for his blessings, we must thank him for his being. And
that's what the psalmist here commands us to do. Bless the
Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy
name. Second, in order to stir up our
hearts to bless the Lord, we should recall all his benefits,
his great benefits of grace, which we have personally experienced.
Isaiah calls for us to do this. He says, hearken unto me, ye
that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto
the rock which you're hewn and to the hole of the pit which
you're digged. William Law made this statement. It's actually several statements.
Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world? It is not
he who prays most or fast most. It is not he who gives most alms
or is most imminent for temperance, chastity, or justice, but he
who is always thankful to God, who wills everything that God
willeth, who receives everything as an instance of God's goodness
and has a heart always ready to praise God for it. Ephesians
chapter five tells us that this is what it is to be filled with
the Spirit. To be filled with the Spirit
is to be always giving thanks to God, singing with grace and
melody in your hearts to the Lord, worshiping the name of
our God. Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing. In everything give thanks. for
this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. And then
in Psalm 103, verses three, four, and five, David calls for us
to give thanks for five specific blessings. First, who forgiveth
all thine iniquities. And then give thanks to God who
healeth all thy diseases. Now, if you've been sick, seriously
ill especially, and you've been healed of your disease. And you
know, God, you're thankful. I'm thankful for the sickness
that's brought me low and thankful to God for giving me strength
to rise from the bed of sickness. But that's not what this 103rd
Psalm is talking about. We will never be healed of all
our diseases while we're in this world, only when we leave this
world. And we will leave this world
because we will never be healed of all our diseases. Sickness
and disease is as much a part of life as breathing and eating. God's appointed a way by which
he will take us out of this world and that's going to come to pass
and we should never dread it. But rather David's talking about
spiritual health. Those who are forgiven of all
sin are healed in their souls of all their diseases and restored
to spiritual life in Christ, made new creatures in Christ. And then David says, give thanks
to God who redeemeth thy life from destruction. Our redemption
by Christ, what a cause for forgiveness. He redeemed us at Calvary. He
obtained eternal redemption for us with His own blood when He
entered in once into the holy place. And then He redeemeth
thy life. He comes in mighty grace by the
power of His Spirit, sprinkles the hearts of the redeemed with
His blood and delivers us from sin. And He will deliver us continually,
redeeming us continually by the might of his grace, lifting us
from the deep and miry clay, lifting us from the deep pit
in which there's no standing. And then forth, we bless him
and give thanks. For he crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercy. See, God sets a crown. on the heads of his saints, whom
he's made kings and priests unto God. And the crown has these
two royal diadems in it, loving kindness and tender mercy. God always deals with you, my
brother. God always deals with you, my
sister, in loving kindness and tender mercy. And then it is
he who satisfied thy mouth with good things so that thy youth
is renewed like the eagles. This is a promise of long life,
eternal heavenly life. The eagle may live more than
a hundred years and that old bird soars gracefully in the
heavens just as if she were at home in the heavens. Because
she is. And here, you and I, babes in
Christ, live. But the life of the believer
begins when these bodies cease to live. When I die, then I will
live. But in the meantime, the Lord
God graciously, continually renews our strength. Like the feathers
on the eagle are replaced at the time of molting every year,
the Lord God fills his saints. He recovers us from our decays
and our falls and fills us with new life and joy in Christ Jesus
so that we continually are renewed by him. I said this to you Sunday
evening, I think it was. This is really what the song
of Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes is all about. You read through
those two marvelous books of inspiration, and if you read
them right, you read your day-by-day experience. We fall, and He lifts
us up. We fall, and He lifts us up. We languish, and He revives. We languish, and He revives.
We stray, and He fetches. We stray, and He fetches. constantly
teaching us that He will not ever leave us to ourselves, teaching
us that if He did, we would perish immediately, teaching us ever
to look to Christ and for the grace of God in Him for everything. God's left us in this world,
in this state, so that we may ever look to Him for everything. And even in old age, his grace
renews. I'm certain that Caleb spoke
the truth when he said to Joshua, he said, when he was 80 years
old, give me this mountain, or said to Moses, give me this mountain,
I'll take it. He said, I'm 80 years old now,
and I've been walking with you for 40 years through this desert,
and I'm just as strong now as I was when I was 40 years old.
Now, I honestly would find that hard to believe if it weren't
written in this book. I'd find it real hard to believe.
But this I know, the believer in his soul, in his heart, in
his old age, as his flesh continues to weaken. I'm not talking now
about the body of flesh. I'm talking, Bill, about our
nature. It just gets worse all the time. but God graciously renews the
soul day by day. Robert Hawker commenting on this,
made this prayer, speaking and admonishing his own soul. He
said, my soul hast thou sinned, God in Christ pardons thy sins. Art thou diseased in body and
soul by reason of sin? God in Christ healeth all thy
diseases. Art thou ruined and undone in
all the circumstances of nature by reason of the fall? It is
God in Christ that redeemeth thy life from destruction and
crowneth thee with all that is needful for thee in grace. Art
thou feeling decays? And is the event of mortality
hastening upon thee? God in Christ will renew thee
as the eagle is renewed in old age. Precious, precious salvation. And then third, as we call upon
God, recalling his benefits of grace personally experienced,
we ought to extol our God for his works of grace and mercy
heaped upon all his people. upon his church collectively.
Let's just read verses 6 through 18. I won't say anything about
them, just read them. Here David speaks of God's great praise
because of his great mercy on all of Zion. The Lord executeth
righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed. He hath
made known his ways unto Moses and his acts to the children
of Israel. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger,
and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither
will he keep his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. Oh, thank God he never has, and
he never will. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions
from us. Like as a father pitieth his
children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth
our frame. He remembereth that we are dust. As for man, his days are as grass. As the flower of the field, so
he flourisheth, for the wind passeth over it and it is gone,
and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of
the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that
fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children, to
such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments
to do this. Let us never be so selfish as
only to thank God for His mercy to us personally. I thank God
He deals with you just like this. I thank God for His goodness
to you. I received a call from a friend.
As a matter of fact, I received a couple of calls from friends
just recently. telling me of God's grace to their children.
And I rejoice with them, and weep with happiness with them,
because these are my brothers and sisters in Christ. I just
talked to some folks just recently, seeing God apparently blessing
the ministry of a congregation elsewhere, and I truly rejoice
with them. You see, truly God is good to
Israel. God protects and defends his
people. He reveals himself. He shows
us his way. He pours out his mercy upon us.
He's long-suffering and patient, great in mercy and full of pity,
remembering that we are dust. And he does it forever. When
David was laying on his deathbed, and there was a hush through
the land, David, the sweet singer of Israel, spoke a word, and
he said, the Lord hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure, and this is all my salvation and all my
desire, though he make it not to grow. So it is with you. God has made with you an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. Look at verse 19, Psalm
103. The Lord hath prepared his throne
in the heavens, and his kingdom ruleth over all. God Almighty sits on his throne, and nothing could please me so
well as that. God sits on his throne. God rules
the universe. God sovereignly controls the
minds, the thoughts, the words, and the deeds of all creatures. Yes, of all men, good and evil,
friend and foe. none breathes, moves, or wiggles,
but by God's decree for me." That's God's providence. That's
the wonder of God's goodness. Look at verse 20. If we would bless and praise
our God, let us show forth His praise living with confidence
before him. Bless the Lord, ye his angels,
that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening
unto the voice of his word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye his
host, ye ministers, ye servants of his, that do his pleasure. That's what it is to bless him,
to do his pleasure. to hearken to his commandments.
Bless the Lord, all his works in all places of his dominion. Bless the Lord, O my soul. Thanksgiving is more than mouthing
words or even saying praise. It involves eulogizing God's
name. remembering his grace, recognizing
his goodness, acknowledging his dominion, and devotion to his
will. Oh, God, teach me every day throughout
today to bless the Lord, to remember your grace, to recognize your
goodness in all things, to acknowledge your dominion in all things,
and to devote myself relentlessly to you, your will,
and your glory. That's thanksgiving, God's way. And I bid you Happy Thanksgiving. I trust God will give you that
as you gather with your families on Thursday. Let us give thanks
to God, thanking him for his unspeakable gift, Christ Jesus
the Lord, and his free salvation in him. All right, we'll sing
a hymn and be dismissed with that.