A PSALM FOR GIVING THANKS

A PSALM FOR GIVING THANKS

Psalm 100

Dr. Wm. J. Maxwell

First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI

November 20, 2005

All people that on earth do dwell,

Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;

Him serve with fear, His praise forth tell,

Come ye before Him and rejoice. [i]

This hymn, affectionately known as “Old Hundredth,” is the hymn most associated with the psalm before us. It dates as far back as Geneva in the time of John Calvin, around1551, when Calvin had the psalms rephrased in order that God’s Word could be sung by the congregation. “Old Hundredth” was used in the Scottish Psalter as well, and was used by the Pilgrims and the Puritans when they first came to America in the early 1600’s.

It is a good hymn, and an even better Psalm, reminding us of something very significant: that we ought to do more than simply be thankful for the gifts we’ve received. We ought to praise and thank God not only for what He has given us, but especially for who God is. In other words, we should give thanks not only for the gifts, but for the Giver.

In these five verses, there is first a call to praise God, followed thereafter by reasons why the Lord is most worthy of praise. It is to this last verse – verse 5 - that I would like to draw our attention this morning: “For the LORD is good; His steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness to all generations.” It is in this verse that we find no less than three different reasons to worship and honor the Lord during this special season … and in every season.

THE PSALMIST TEACHES US THAT

WE OUGHT TO PRAISE AND THANK GOD

BECAUSE GOD IS GOOD.

The LORD is good, and for this reason, God is worthy of praise and honor.

In the former verses, God is noted to be worthy of our praise because He is our Creator, and as such He has the right to our worship. “Know that the LORD, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His …”

Some translations, based upon one single vowel change, provide for us an alternative reading: “It is He who made us, and not we ourselves.” This is a good reminder for those who think they are “self-made” men and women. It is also a pertinent word at a time when school boards across the country are considering teaching “Intelligent Design”!

The Apostle Paul makes this same point in his message to the Athenians. There, he says:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.[ii]

However, this Psalm teaches us that God is not merely a powerful being as the Creator of all that there is in heaven and on earth. God is also a being of the utmost moral character, including that of benevolence, good will, kindness and generosity. As such, God is most worthy of our praise and adoration.

When we stop to think seriously about this, a being of mere power is not necessarily worthy of praise. For example, the trial of Saddam Hussein should soon and finally get underway in the nation of Iraq. When it does, told and formerly untold stories of testimony will reveal to us a being of power wedded with such malice and evil, leading not to love or praise this man, but only to our revulsion of him.

But a being whose power is united with goodness and benevolence is much different. And the God whom we know as incarnate in Jesus Christ is most certainly all powerful … and all-good!

Here, I think of C.S. Lewis’ book, Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe. As you may recall, the story involves four children who enter into the land of Narnia, and there they discover Aslan, who is a figure of Christ. In a conversation between Susan and Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, she is told that she is going to meet Aslan. Susan isn’t quite sure about this, and the dialogue follows in this way:

“Is – is he a man?” asked Lucy. “Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion – the Lion, the great Lion.”

“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he – quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.” “That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy. “Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” [iii]

Dear friends, we must all know that the God whom we acknowledge as incarnate in Jesus Christ isn’t safe. He is holy, holy, holy, and His power is awesome in its might. As such, He is never to be taken lightly. But He is also good, and the salvation won for us in Jesus Christ should never leave us in doubt regarding this aspect of His character.

And therefore, we exclaim, “Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!”

SECONDLY, THE PSALMIST TEACHES US THAT

WE OUGHT TO PRAISE AND THANK GOD

BECAUSE HIS STEADFAST LOVE ENDURES FOREVER.

The Hebrew word used here is a very special word, the word “chesed” or “hesed.” This word has been translated in many ways, such as love, steadfast love, mercy or loving-kindness.

This word means a cementing, bonding kind of love, used most often in the sense of a covenant relationship, particularly the one found between God and His people. So, one of the most common exclamations of praise in Israel was surely this: “Give thanks to the LORD, for His steadfast love endures forever.” [iv] This God, this covenant-making, covenant-keeping God, is ever to be praised!

As we look to the covenant relationship we have with God through faith in Jesus Christ, we can find the deepest level of compassion, loving kindness and mercy. This does not mean a life free of hardship and free of difficulty, but it does mean a life embraced by a love that will never let us go.

This was the conviction of George Matheson, a Scottish pastor. Matheson had only partial vision as a boy, and he became totally blind at the age of 18. Nevertheless, he graduated from college and from seminary with high honors. He was then ordained in the Church of Scotland.

In 1886, he became pastor of a 2000 member church in Edinburgh, and he proved himself to be an outstanding preacher and beloved pastor. A devoted sister stood by him for many years, aiding him in his studies. But life for George Matheson was not an easy one, not by any means.

There is a story, perhaps quite true, that before he was ordained he was engaged. But with Matheson’s impending blindness, his fiancée broke off the engagement, which came to him as a terrible blow. Apparently, she felt she could not be married to a blind man.

It was around this same time that Matheson wrote a hymn, a time of “the most severe mental suffering,” as he describes it. He also describes what happened in the writing of the hymn:

The hymn was the fruit of that suffering. It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression rather of having it dictated to me by some inward voice than of working it out myself. [v]

This hymn, so treasured ever since by all those of faith and trust, has as its very first verse:

O Love that wilt not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee;

I give Thee back the life I owe,

That in Thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be. [vi]

George Matheson knew where to turn in his time of deepest need. But in point of fact, it appears from Matheson’s own testimony that it was the Lord who drew Matheson to Himself in a loving embrace, resulting in this now treasured hymn.

In all the joys of life, but also in all the challenges of life, there is One whose love for us will never let us go, One in whose love we may rest our weary souls. Such a One is most surely worthy of all our thanks and praise!

III

THIRDLY, WE ARE TAUGHT BY THE PSALMIST THAT

WE OUGHT TO PRAISE AND THANK GOD

BECAUSE HIS FAITHFULNESS CONTINUES TO ALL GENERATIONS.

God is faithful and true to His people throughout the whole course of their lives. This is certainly a sufficient reason for praise! We could not love or honor a God who proved in action to be unfaithful. We could not love and honor a God who is inconsistent and fickle, who is faithfully beside us one moment, but who deserts us in the next; One who abides by His promises now, but who fails us the very next hour. Neither could we pass on to our children or grandchildren any sense of firm hope and expectant faith, if the God who is faithful in our lives may decide not to be faithful in theirs.

Such a God is not, however, the God we can come to know in Jesus Christ. As we are taught in Scripture, “God is not man that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not fulfill it?” [vii]

How terrible it would be if the promises of God were true only for a certain place or for a certain people, rather than for generations, past, present and future! No, instead, we have a God whose faithfulness is “to all generations.”

Kay Arthur, a popular Bible teacher, tells a story of a personal struggle of hers.[viii] Back in the 60’s, she was a missionary with her husband in Mexico. They lived in a very small, 28’ trailer and the support for these independent missionaries was very meager. But she had also read wonderful testimonies from the saints who had gone before them of God’s gracious provision. She had read the biographies of men like Hudson Taylor and George Mueller. She also was quite familiar with the promises of God.

Nevertheless, her confidence in God wavered at a time when they ran out of money and she was ill with the beginning stages of typhoid fever. As a family with two young sons, they needed medicine right away before she became a carrier of the germ, at a cost of $30 – which they did not have. Though they had food and shelter, they needed that money for medicine desperately. That’s when they prayed … and yet there still came no relief.

That’s also when she went to the bathroom, just to have a place to be alone in that small trailer, where she then read Psalm 34, a testimony of God’s provision for David in a desperate time of need. Consequently, in that time alone with God, her faith became strengthened, and her faith became an expectant faith.

On the day when they had to buy that much-needed medicine, the doorbell rang with a telegram messenger at the door. He was in uniform and, of course, he spoke in Spanish. But he also had brought a money telegram for $50. Not only was there enough money for the medicine, but also something for which to buy the boys gifts for Christmas.

The money had come from a couple in their church back home who bred dogs and they had just sold a puppy. The Lord had laid it on their hearts to then send this money to the Arthur’s. They didn’t have much money themselves, but this strong impression from the Lord was undeniable. This was a lot of money in the ‘60’s, and it had come from a most unusual source. But Kay and Jack Arthur knew without question who the ultimate Source of that monetary gift most surely was.

David, Hudson Taylor, George Mueller, Kay and Jack Arthur, and millions of others have seen the faithfulness of the Lord, even as I have, and – I trust - have you as well! His faithfulness continues “to all generations”!

This Thanksgiving, you may well have much for which to give thanks to God. After all, so many blessings continue to pour into our lives from His gracious hand. But in this psalm specifically designed for giving thanks, you and I are also reminded to worship the LORD because of who He is:

“For the LORD is good;

His steadfast love endures forever,

and His faithfulness to all generations.”