Daily Dose of the Word of God - Psalm 117: 1

Gregg DeMey, Lead Pastor

Transcript

Gregg DeMey  0:11 

Good morning and welcome to Elmhurst CRC's Daily Dose of the Word of God. It's Thursday, November 28 - also known as the American Thanksgiving holiday - and here you are tuning into a podcast to hear God's word! This is Greg DeMay, Lead Pastor at the church and while it's great and noble that our nation annually sets aside a day for gratitude and thanksgiving - including a presidential proclamation - the practice of biblical Thanksgiving has much deeper roots. Here are just a few words from Psalm 117.

Gregg DeMey  0:45 

"Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures forever." And the final verse of Psalm 117, "Whoever is wise, consider the great love of the Lord."

Gregg DeMey  0:55 

Across the Psalms and indeed all of Scripture, there are hundreds and hundreds of encouragements to give thanks to God. Some years, this giving thanks is simple, easy and natural. Other seasons of life it can be tough, but it is always wise and fitting to give thanks in light of who God is. Now, there's an older praise song (I think from the 70s) that the lyric goes something like this: "We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord." Notice that phrase, "we bring the SACRIFICE of praise." Later the song goes, "And we offer up to you the sacrifices of thanksgiving. We offer up to you the sacrifices of praise." If the hallelujahs and the praises come quickly and freely to you today, beautiful. But if they come with difficulty or even with tears, know that your Thanksgiving is a beautiful offering and a sacrifice in God's eyes. This sacrifice actually ushers in God's Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5: 18 and 19 puts it this way: "Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus, and do not quench the spirit." Could the Scripture be any clearer? It's God's will to give thanks and when we do, it opens up the floodgates for God's spirit to have God's own way.

Gregg DeMey 2:25  

Let's pray. Oh God, on this day above all we give thanks for things large and small. For the air in our lungs, for friends and family, for this wondrous planet and for Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, our master and friend. We praise you, we thank you, we lift our hearts to you today. In Jesus name, Amen.