Thanksgiving Series - Pastor Stacey Shiflett
Magnify Him With Thanksgiving Series
Psalms 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.
Intro: Today’s message will be the subject of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving involves several things.
I. The Decision of Thanksgiving — "I will"
We do what we want to do.
We do what we put our minds to do.
Praising God and being thankful will happen when we do it on purpose.
When I decide to be thankful, there are several things that come into play.
A. The Intention that is Required
Twice in this verse, the Psalmist said, “I will…”
He aligned his will with God’s will.
And we have no doubt that giving thanks is God’s will.
· 1 Thessalonians 5:18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
· Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.
Deciding to be thankful is as much a decision as deciding to be faithful.
We will ultimately do what we decide to do.
· We decide to go on a diet.
· We decide to keep our word.
· We decide to love our spouse.
· We decide to pay our bills.
· We decide to spend time in prayer.
· We also decide to be thankful.
It is not based on our CIRCUMSTANCES; it is based on our COMMITMENT.
It is not based on our FEELINGS; it is based on His FAITHFULNESS.
Being grateful for what we have and what God has given us is a choice.
Being ungrateful is a choice as well.
We can choose to feel entitled, or we can choose to feel unworthy.
B. The Inventory that is Recognized
I can easily decide to be thankful once I have taken an assessment of my life.
I look at what I have now and compare it to what I had before.
As the songwriter said:
When I look around and see
The good things he does for me.
I know I’m unworthy of them all.
But his blessings he freely gives
I owe my life to him.
I’ve got so much to thank Him for.
Chorus
And I’ve got so much to thank Him for
So much to praise Him for.
Well, you see now he has been so good to me.
And when I think of what he’s done
And where he's brought me from.
I’ve got so much to thank Him for.
C. The Ingratitude that is Rejected
One of the greatest enemies of thanksgiving is the spirit of entitlement.
I must refuse to allow complaining, discontentment, and entitlement to replace gratitude.
· Philippians 2:14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
· 1 Corinthians 10:10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
· Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
If I think I deserve everything I have, I will struggle to be grateful for what God give me.
QUOTE: Thanksgiving thrives where entitlement dies.
You cannot cultivate a spirit of thanksgiving while continually entertaining a spirit of complaining.
We must reject the notion that nothing is good enough for us.
We must reject the idea that God owes us anything!
We must reject the selfish culture that we are entitled and deserve God’s mercies and blessings.
II. The Direction of Thanksgiving — "…the name of God...magnify him…"
The recipient of our thanksgiving should be God.
The recipient of both the praise and the thanksgiving is God.
My thanksgiving shouldn’t draw attention to WHO is being blessed, but the ONE that did the blessing.
My thanksgiving shouldn’t focus on the gift but on the giver.
My thanksgiving shouldn’t on what I have, but on what He’s done.
In this verse, we see the word PRAISE and the word THANKSGIVING.
The primary difference between praising God and thanking God is the focus of our expression.
Praise focuses on WHO GOD IS.
Thanksgiving focuses on WHAT GOD HAS DONE.
Although they are closely connected, they are not identical.
They are often seen together and are closely related.
For example:
· Psalm 100:4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
Here, thanksgiving and praise are presented together as expressions of worship.
Praise celebrates God's PERSON.
Thanksgiving celebrates God's PROVISION.
Praise magnifies His ATTRIBUTES.
Thanksgiving acknowledges His ACTIONS.
Praise declares His WORTHINESS.
Thanksgiving acknowledges His WORKS.
WE PRAISE GOD for His attributes, His nature, His holiness, His power, and His greatness.
· Psalm 145:3 Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.
· Psalm 150:2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
We praise Him because He is holy.
We praise Him because He is righteous.
We praise Him because He is sovereign.
We praise Him because He is merciful.
We praise Him because He is faithful.
WE THANK GOD for His blessings, His provisions, His protection, His answers to prayer, and His benefits.
· Psalm 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:We thank Him for salvation.
We thank Him for His daily provisions.
We thank Him for answered prayers.
We thank Him for His protection.
We thank Him for His blessings.
· Psalms 26:7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.
III. The Declaration of Thanksgiving — "…with a song...with thanksgiving…"
Thanksgiving is an action.
It literally means to give thanks.
Websters 1828: THANKSGIV'ING, noun The act of rendering thanks or expressing gratitude for favors or mercies.
There are several ways to declare thanksgiving.
A. With Song
· Psalms 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song
· Isaiah 51:3 For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.
The first song service recorded in Scripture was a song of thanksgiving.
SEE Exodus 15:1-21
It is scriptural to thank God for His wondrous works by singing songs of thanksgiving!
It was a:
Deliberate Song – 14:31 And Israel saw that great work…vs. 1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel…
Directed Song – vs. 1 I will sing unto the Lord… vs. 21 …sing ye to the Lord…
Doctrinal Song – vs. 2-13
Descriptive Song – vs. 1-10 They rehearsed in detail the works of God.
Defiant Song – vs. 11-16
· 11 Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods?
· 14 The people shall hear and be afraid.
· 15 All the inhabitants of Canaan shall melt away… (SEE Joshua 2:9-11)
B. With Supplication
· Colossians 4:2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;
· 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.
NOTE: Philippians 4:6 does not tell us to give thanks after our requests have been answered.
It tells us to give thanks while we are making our requests!
We should not reserve thanksgiving for the outcome of our prayers.
It should be a constant component of our prayers.
Did you know that Daniel went to the lion’s den for praying prayers of thanksgiving?
· Daniel 6:10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
Did you know that Jonah prayed a prayer of thanksgiving in the whale’s belly?
· Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.
Paul prayed prayers of thanksgiving for God’s people.
· Colossians 1:3 We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
Philippians 1
· 3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
· 4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
How much of your prayer life consists of thanksgiving?
C. With Shouting
· Psalms 35:27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.
· Psalms 132:16 I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
God saved us, and our response should be to shout aloud for joy!
Ezra 3
· 11 And they sang together by course in praising and giving thanks unto the LORD; because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever toward Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
· 12 But many of the priests and Levites and chief of the fathers, who were ancient men, that had seen the first house, when the foundation of this house was laid before their eyes, wept with a loud voice; and many shouted aloud for joy:
· 13 So that the people could not discern the noise of the shout of joy from the noise of the weeping of the people: for the people shouted with a loud shout, and the noise was heard afar off.
