All Nations Community Church
Give Thanks Pt. 1
In good times, we can be thankful for the blessings. The new house, friendships, and promotion should be celebrated. However, in the moments of despair, waiting, and grief we can still give thanks. We can be thankful because we worship a good God that loves us, will never leave us, and can meet us right where we are. It’s easy to be thankful on Thanksgiving. It’s an entire holiday about gratitude. Across America, families will watch parades, eat turkey, and celebrate God’s provision over the past year. God wants us to be thankful, but His vision for thankfulness is bigger than a once-a-year celebration. We must give thanks all the time and for everything. We are called to be thankful daily, not just once a year.
Locations & Times
All Nations Community Church
18620 Kedzie Ave, Homewood, IL 60430, USA
Sunday 8:45 AM
105: the psalmist recounts how God had been with the patriarch, Abraham, and all those succeeded him, and God led them to-and-through Egypt to the blessing and security of the Promise Land!
106: the psalmist recounts how God was with them even in their disobedience…
- Note the proper exhortation of the community: The psalmist exhorts the readers to give thanks to God, and for good (right)reason….
- This "thanks" is directed to and reserved for God because "He is good!"
- This goodness is explained in the rest of the Psalm… note the first explanation, "For His mercy endures forever"
“The word [endures] has been properly supplied by the translators, but yet it somewhat restricts the sense, which will be better seen if we read it, ‘for his mercy for ever.’ That mercy had no beginning, and shall never know an end.” Charles Spurgeon
Within the exhortation, an invitation is extended: Those that have been redeemed by God's for ever mercy have a responsibility to say, "SO!!!"
- The people were scattered to far-off places… yet God gathered them back!
- They experienced lack and no place to lay their heads
- They were hungry and thirsty…
- In v. 6, they cried out to the Lord in their distress!
- The next verse, v. 7, shows what the Lord did… "led them till they reached a city to dwell in."
- In v. 8, the writer invites the listener and reader to praise (yadah) God
- It's not praise with a sound, but praise with hands!
- It not only praise for personal blessings but praise for the blessings of others.
- What is the real blessing? The satisfaction of the soul!
1. Have you ever strayed away from God?
2. How often do you thank God for the little things?
3. When is the last time you tried to fix a big problem yourself? Did you ask God for help? What was the outcome when you did/didn’t?
4. What do you think it means to depend on God?