# No more thanksgiving leftovers, please!



## Presbyterian Deacon (Nov 30, 2008)

“NO MORE THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS, PLEASE!”

This past Thursday was Thanksgiving Day. One of the wonderful things about the celebration of Thanksgiving is all the food! I’m sure, if you’re like me, you probably gathered with family and friends this past Thursday and feasted on various wonderful foods. Turkey, Stuffing, squash, mashed potatoes and gravy, Apple, Pumpkin and Mincemeat Pies, oh, and (my favorite) candied sweet potatoes! The food is always so wonderful on Thanksgiving Day, but some of it seems to be even better after Thanksgiving! So on Friday we have turkey sandwiches with cranberry sauce, and Saturday brings Turkey Casserole or turkey soup, and through out the next week or so, you’ll have various variations of Thanksgiving food…until finally, a few days from now—about the middle of this coming week, you’ll say—“That’s it! I can’t stand it any more! NO MORE THANKSGIVING LEFTOVERS, PLEASE!!” 

Sometimes that happens in church also. I don’t know what kind of messages you’ve heard in the past few weeks, but in some churches, in November—the sermon topic always seems to be on thanksgiving, or praising God, or thankfulness. And then the fourth Thursday of November comes and goes, and after that—you never hear about thankfulness again for another 11 months! I believe this time of year (after the celebration of Thanksgiving Day has passed)—this is an excellent time to look to God’s Word to see what God tells us about Thankfulness. 

I believe that God’s call to us today is “No More Thanksgiving Leftovers, Please!” God calls us in our text this morning (from Psalm 138) to “WHOLE-HEARTED THANKFULNESS”

You see—Thanksgiving is MORE than just the fourth Thursday of November. God calls His people to live lives of Thankfulness. He doesn’t want our leftovers. He will not accept a mere of acknowledgement that the season for thanksgiving has past, and now we must rush on to Advent! No, as important as the Advent season is, we must not forsake Thanksgiving. 

That’s what happens in the world, isn’t it? This is true, I’ve noticed especially in the commercial sector. Thanksgiving is merely a bump in the road between the candy sales of Halloween and gift sales at Christmas. Thanksgiving, or the day after for many is just the day that marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping rush! 

But we are not to be like the world. We are called, as Christians to be different. We are to be a people characterized by WHOLE-HEARTED Thankfulness, or as one Pastor has said, “For Christians there is not simply one day a year that is Thanksgiving, but all our days every year should be days of Thanks-living!” 

God does not want your leftovers! God calls you as His people to lives of Whole–hearted Thankfulness!


My text this morning is Psalm 138—please follow along as I read God’s Word

[1] I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; 
[2] I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 
[3] On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. 
[4] All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, 
[5] and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. 
[6] For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. 
[7] Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. 
[8] The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

Let’s ask God to bless our study this morning:

Prayer—O Lord, give us attentive ears to hear Your Word. Give us hearts of thankfulness. Whole-Hearted Thankfulness! Hearts from which we, as the Psalmist has expressed may sing Your praise. Lord, You are Holy, and we are lowly. It is because of Your steadfast love and Your faithfulness that we are able to come to You this morning. Teach us now, we pray from Your Holy Word. We ask this in Jesus’ Name with whole-hearted thanksgiving. Amen!

“No More Thanksgiving Leftovers, Please!” is a call to Whole-hearted Thankfulness! 

But we must ask the question: What is Thankfulness? Well, Psalm 138 will help us to answer that question, and show us what God’s will is for us with respect to whole-hearted (not just leftovers—but WHOLEHEARTED) Thankfulness!

Psalm 138 breaks into three sections very nicely, and so this morning we will see:
I.	The Expression of Whole-Hearted Thankfulness in verses 1-3.
II.	The Experience of Whole-Hearted Thankfulness in verses 3-6, and:
III.	The Endurance of Whole-Hearted Thankfulness in verses 7-8.

And so we come to our first point this morning:

I.	The Expression of Whole Hearted Thankfulness.

Psalm 138:1-3 “I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise; 
[2] I bow down toward your holy temple and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word. 
[3] On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. 

Here is the duty of Thankfulness. What is thankfulness? True thankfulness is a branch of godliness. True thankfulness—whole-hearted thankfulness acknowledges that it is God, and not we ourselves who are the source of our blessings. I submit to you this morning that none but a godly man or woman is a truly thankful person. Thankfulness is a spiritual virtue worked in us by God. For instance, in Psalm 97:12 we find this admonition: “Rejoice in the Lord, O you righteous, and give thanks to his holy name!” Who can do that? “O you righteous.” As we recognize that it is only by God’s steadfast love and faithfulness that we have received our blessings, we begin to understand indeed how bankrupt we are in ourselves. Every good and perfect gift comes from God, James tells us—and whole-hearted thankfulness readily acknowledges that! 

Paul says in I Corinthians 4:7. “What have you gotten that you have not received?” Everything comes from God. 

The Psalmist here says, that he acknowledges his thankfulness “before the gods.” What does that mean? “I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart; before the gods I sing your praise…” Before the gods, or in the face of the gods…in David’s time, the gods spoken of were the false idols of the pagan nations around Israel. These vied for the attention of Israel, for the attention of the people of God. They promised through their teachings all kinds of things. Blessings and possessions, wealth and prosperity were promised to those who would simply follow them. 

These gods were the Baals, and the Ashtoreths, the Milcoms and the Molechs of those who did not follow the one true God. “Bow down at our altar and find true blessing!” Not much has changed.

These things were false in David’s day, and they are false in our day as well. You see—we have our own Baals and Molechs all about us that call for our attention. False gods that would vie for the affection of the Church are all about us. We see them in advertisements on television and the internet, on billboards as we travel down the highway of life, and these vie for our affections. They would divert us from the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent! These are the pagan philosophies and teachings of our day that promise us rewards and blessing, life and light—if we but follow them. 

David says here, in the face of that he would sing his praise to the One True God. He would bow toward God’s Holy temple (verse 2). He would give thanks to the Name of Jehovah. 

These false gods, in the New Testament—referred to as “uncertain riches” were fickle. Fortunes and favor change with them as the coming and going of the tide. But God’s love was and is steadfast and faithful. The true and living God does not change therefore we are not consumed! God has exalted His name and his Word above all things! 

And what have we gotten that we have not received from Him as a gift?! When we realize that we only have what we have because it is God’s gift to us, then we can truly be a thankful people!

A people characterized by whole-hearted thankfulness will be a praying people. Verse 3: “On the day I called. You answered me…” You see, the very fact that we pray to God is a tacit acknowledgement that we need Him! Those who think or imagine that they have something that God hasn’t given to them are only fooling themselves. 

First Corinthians 4:7—What have you gotten that you have not received? Even our reciting the Lord’s Prayer is a call to dependence on God and thankfulness for His many blessings. “Give us this day our daily bread…” we pray, acknowledging that apart from God’s provision we wouldn’t eat. It’s why we say grace at mealtime, why we should gather as His people for corporate prayer, and why we pray for God’s blessing and direction in our lives. What have you gotten that you have not received? Nothing! The simple answer is that ALL THINGS come from HIS hand. I defy you to try to think of one thing that you have that is not a gift of God! What have you gotten that you have not received? 

Indeed, as Christians we have so much to be thankful for. Ephesians 5:20 instructs us: “…giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…” And in Philippians 4:6 we read, “…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God…”

And in 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Paul reminds us to “…give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you….” 

Ephesians 5:3 says, there are some things which “must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.” Paul says in verse 4, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” Thankfulness is a characteristic, which must be apparent in the lives of Christians! The point here is that an unthankful saint is a contradiction! A Christian who feels that he has nothing to be thankful for is a contradiction. In fact, the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:2 joins together in one group those who are unthankful, and those who are unholy! 

And worse yet, in Luke 6:35, Jesus pairs together those who are unthankful with those who are evil! If you are truly Christians, you are thankful people, and that thankfulness will be expressed, not with the leftovers of your life, but with your whole heart! 

And now, our second point this morning:

II.	The Experience of Whole-Hearted Thankfulness

Psalm 138:3-6 “On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased. 
[4] All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth, 
[5] and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord. 
[6] For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar. 

David here, after expressing his whole-hearted thankfulness (verses 1-3) acknowledges his experience. He said that he had called on God (verse 3) because of his whole-hearted thankfulness, and that in the face of the false gods around him, he sang the praise of the one true God! And through this David says he has come to know four things! He points to his experience. He knows these things to be true because he has experienced it. What are these four things?



1.	God alone meets our needs (verse 3). “On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” God met his need. God increased the strength of his soul. And as God did with David so He does with us. Our heavenly Father will withhold no good thing from those who ask Him Scripture tells us. 

This does not mean that we always get what we want, but He is the faithful God whose steadfast love and faithfulness never fails. He will meet our needs. David says in Psalm 37:25 “I have been young, and now am old, yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread.” God alone meets our physical needs. And God Alone is able to meet our spiritual needs. In Psalm 55:16 David said, “But I call to God, and the Lord will save me…He redeems my soul in safety.” “On the day I called, you answered me; my strength of soul you increased.” 

2.	God Speaks to men (verse 4). “All the kings of the earth shall give you thanks, O Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth,” Here was David’s experience. He was King of Israel. He had heard the words of God. Words of direction, words of life, words of wisdom, comfort, consolation and truth. He declared that he had hidden God’s word in His heart that he might not sin against God. David confessed that God’s word was a lamp to his feet—a light, the only true light that would direct him on the path of life. 
And when we come to grips with that—the place of God’s Word in our lives then we have reason to give Him thanks. All the kings, we are kings and priests we read in the New Testament. All of us should give God thanks, for He has given to us His holy word!

3.	God’s Glory is Great (verse 5) “and they shall sing of the ways of the Lord, for great is the glory of the Lord.” The Psalms, all 150 of them are so rich with this kind of expression! David, and the other writers of Psalms having seen God’s glory, could not help but sing of His ways!

4.	God regards the Lowly (verse 6). “For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.” Here is the greatest wonder of all! The Lord is high! Great is the glory of the God!! Yet, He regards the lowly! 

He looks upon us in Grace with an unfailing, steadfast love. And He reaches to lowly man, the God who made heaven and earth is concerned about us! David experienced this, and his expression of it is found in Psalm 8:3-4 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” You see, this recognition, that God is great, and we are lowly, yet regardless of that—God cares about us! 



This recognition will do two things. (a) It further humbles us as sinners before a holy righteous God. It’s the “wow!” moment, when we see ourselves as we really are before a holy God. We are driven to our knees to confess with the Psalmist, “Who am I that God should be mindful of me? 

And (b) it distinguishes thankful people from the haughty people who are only known to God from afar. 

What have you gotten that you have not received? The haughty feel they have all they need with out God, so they are far from Him. But Scripture tells us that God gives grace to the humble, God honors the one who comes to Him with whole-hearted thankfulness. 

And finally, our third point this morning:

III.	The Endurance of Whole-Hearted Thankfulness

Psalm 138:7-8 “Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies, and your right hand delivers me. 
[8] The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.




It’s one thing to speak of whole-hearted thankfulness when we have felt that our souls have been strengthened (v.3), and things seem to be going well. When we have a sense of the close abiding presence of God and we perceive that His glory is great, but David says here—“though I walk in the midst of trouble…” Whole-hearted thankfulness Endures in the bad times as well as the good. This is not some fair weather friend—this thankfulness! No! Even in the midst of trouble—wholehearted thankfulness endures! Why? Because our thankfulness is not based upon our outward circumstances! 

Often we forget that. It’s easy to be thankful on a good day. You get up, spend time in prayer and Bible reading, go to work, everything runs smoothly, at the end of the work day you come home and eat a wonderful meal—life is great! And it’s easy to be thankful! 

But it's not so easy to be thankful on the bad days? You get up late because the alarm doesn’t go off. You don’t have time to pray or read –or even eat breakfast. On the way out of the house you step on the cat, and smack your toe on the door jam. You get to work late, get in an argument with the boss and come home at the end of the workday, and find your wife burned the supper. 

Now, that’s a bit trivial sounding, I know—but my point is: on the bad days—thankfulness becomes a little harder for us doesn’t it?

But David said, though I walk in the midst of trouble! Now surely David’s trouble was a bit more severe than stepping on the cat or having a burnt supper. David, the king of Israel had been exiled from his throne and people were trying to kill him! One of those people who were trying to kill him was his own son. Yet it is in the midst of this kind of trouble, David says, I give thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart! How could he do that? Because he knew that thankfulness to God does not depend on outward circumstances, successes, or prosperity.

The Endurance of Whole Hearted Thankfulness is based in God’s Protection, and in God’s Power (his out stretched hand—the right hand of deliverance) and in God’s Purpose. David’s Whole Hearted thankfulness endured because he knew God, whose love is steadfast. He knew his God would NOT forsake him. 

Conclusion: God calls us to Whole-hearted thankfulness. We serve the same God as David! What have we gotten that we have not received? God calls us to be a people who rest in His steadfast love and don’t waver in times of difficulty. Sometimes we think, it easy to be thankful when everything is “going right.” But when things don’t go the way we want them—well, then being thankful becomes a little more difficult, doesn’t it? But God’s love is steadfast for us as it was for David, and though we may walk in the midst of trouble, God’s outstretched hand—the right hand of deliverance is strong to keep us! The Lord will fulfill His purposes for us and He will not forsake us! And in these great promises of His Word we find the expression, experience and endurance of whole-hearted thankfulness.

The hymn writer has written: 

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly
And you will be singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their land and gold, 
think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold; 
Count your many blessings, money cannot buy 
Your reward in heaven or your home on high.

God has richly blessed us! May we go from here this morning, and in the days ahead whole-heartedly thank God for His many blessing in our lives!! Thanking God for His faithfulness and His unchanging love. God is a gracious God who has given to us every spiritual blessing in Christ.


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