GRATITUDE IS THE
GATEWAY TO GOD (Psalm 50:1-15)
Introduction: Back
in 1988, a Polish railway worker named Jan Grzebski was hit by a train. He
lived but only barely. For the next 19 years (until the year 2007), Grzebski
was in a coma.
He awoke in 2007 to a whole new world. He credited his survival to his wife, Gertruda Grzebska, who cared and prayed for him. Grzebski was a father of four at the time of the accident. While disabled, he gained eleven grandchildren.
Grzebski noted Nineteen years earlier, “Poland was a communist state. When I went into a coma there was only tea and vinegar in the shops, meat was rationed, and huge petrol queues were everywhere. Now I see people on the streets with cell phones, and there are so many goods in the shops it makes my head spin. What amazes me is all these people who walk around with their mobile phones and never stop moaning. I've got nothing to complain about."
These people had freedom, and food and wealth greater than Poland had had for decades, and yet Grzebski woke from his coma to find that ALL they seemed to want to do was grumble! If you don’t get into the habit of thanking God for what you DO have, you’ll soon become ungrateful because of what you DON’T have.”
What Grzebski saw then is so true of so many people, especially in America, a nation supposed to be the greatest nation in the world. Having an attitude of thankfulness is very important in the life of a follower of Christ. Though we have a lot of things, are we going around grumbling and complaining about the things that we don’t have?
How are we expressing our gratitude for the most important and precious things in life? What are the benefits of thanksgiving? How can we cultivate an Attitude of Gratitude? By the end of our time together, I hope we will find some answers to these questions. I title this message, “GRATITUDE IS THE GATEWAY TO GOD” Psalm 50-1-15.
I. THE ORIGINS OF THANKSGIVING
Though thanksgiving is uniquely an American holiday tradition, its actual roots go back to ancient Israel in the book of Leviticus, where God instituted different sacrifices such as the burnt offering, the grain offering, Fellowship offering (also translated as a Peace offering), Sin-offering, and Guilt Offering. Two basic ideas are included in the fellowship offering:
Peace and Fellowship. This offering perhaps symbolized peace between God and man, as well as the inward peace that resulted. It was an act of worship, thanksgiving, and fellowship, which concluded in a communal meal. When God instituted the First Thanksgiving, he intended that people would observe it as a command rather than a voluntary action.
After instructing the Israelites all that God had commanded him to deliver, this is what Moses says, “You must present these offerings to the Lord at your annual festivals. These are in addition to the sacrifices and offerings you present in connection with vows, or as voluntary offerings, burnt offerings, grain offerings, liquid offerings, or peace offerings.” Numbers 29:39
In the OT, thank offerings were given in gratitude for deliverance from sickness, or death, or a blessing. “I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” Psalm 116:17-18.
The Psalmist recognizes that all his blessings, of healing and deliverance, come from God; in return, he thanks Him in the Temple. In Psalm 107, the Psalmist recalls all the beautiful things God has done for his people and all the times he rescued them from danger and provided their needs. Psalm 107:1-2 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His faithful love endures forever. Has the Lord redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.” The Old Testament People were not shy when it comes to giving thanks to God.
In our passage, we will see what truly matters to God, is it what we bring to him or our hearts?
I. GOD’S TERRIFYING APPEARANCE (Vs. 1-6)
When we think of God, we often like to imagine Him as a loving and gracious heavenly father who is always waiting to shower his children with good gifts. That is one side of God, and the other hand, which we may not want to know, is his terrifying appearance. The Psalmist opens up this Psalm with two sharp and frightening images of God to bring some fear into us.
The first one is God as the Mighty one, a terrifying warrior as he had appeared on Mount Sinai in Exodus 19-24 when he spoke the words of the covenant through Moses to His people the Israelites. God’s appearance was often surrounded by thunder, lightning, clouds, or bright sunshine. The point of this appearance is that whenever God calls his people to bring forth judgment upon them, His authority to do so is backed up by His impressive presence.
The second image was that of a Judge or a Ruler. In verses 5- 6, we see as if God is sitting on a throne and summoning His people to remind them of a covenant they made with God and to pass a judgment upon their failure to keep up their part of the covenant. In Exodus 24:1-8, we will read about the way, the terms and conditions of God’s covenant with His people.
When Moses related all the instructions given by God to the Israelites, they all said, “we will do everything God has commanded.” Exodus 24:7, “Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again, they all responded, “We will do everything the Lord has commanded, we will obey.” They failed to keep their promises, hence the charges against them.
II GOD’S CHARGES AGAINST HIS PEOPLE
After revealing Himself as the mighty God and the supreme Judge, God levels two charges against his professing people. One was their Ritualism (7-15), and the second charge was their Rebellion (16-21) and then offers them a solution. (21-23). First, the two charges. A) Ritualism: The Israelites were following all the ritualistic acts meticulously.
They were offering their burnt offerings and animal sacrifices always. God did not rebuke them for their sacrifices but the people’s attitudes in sacrificing. God has still been concerned more about heart attitude than the actual physical sacrifice. For example, I Samuel 15:22, “Obedience is better than sacrifice, and Submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”
Hosea 6:6, “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.” Isaiah 29:13, “And the Lord said: “Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men.” Jesus quotes the same in Mark 7:7.
B) Rebellion: Whereas the first charge dealt with a vertical relationship, our Holy worship of God is to be not so much through mere words and ritualistic acts but by worship offered through a broken and contrite spirit. From Vs. 16-20, we read about the horizontal violations of the covenant (rebellion against God in the context of man-to-fellow-man offenses).
God observed in silence these two offenses committed by Israelites against Him and their fellow Israelites. He tolerated them for a long time, but now he was calling them to account and repentance. Then he shows them a way that would lead straight into His Holy presence. What applies to the Israelites applies to us also. How is our worship of God? Are we merely going through the motions, singing, and praying the right prayers? How are our hearts this morning?
III GRATITUDE IS THE GATEWAY TO GOD.
After leveling accusations, God offers them a gateway to his presence. We read about it in Vs. 14-15 and 23, “Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High. Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.” But giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors me. If you keep to my path, I will reveal to you the salvation of God.” These verses are God’s gracious gift to the Israelites and us.
No, doubt the Israelites were dutiful and ritualistic, but what they were lacking was a heart filled with gratitude. Even today, God is looking for hearts that are filled with thanksgiving. God is not impressed by how well we sing, play music, or how well we pray or work hard for Him, but He is pleased when he sees his people are having an attitude of gratitude.
We teach and expect our children to be grateful and say, “Thank You,” don’t’ we? Similarly, God teaches us to be grateful and expects thankfulness in return. In the passage, we see several benefits of thanksgiving. When we are thankful to God, he will hear us when we call on Him and rescue us from our troubles. As we remain on that path of thanksgiving, we will grow closer to God, and in the end, we will experience the ultimate salvation of our Souls.
If you want to honor God, nothing pleases and honors Him more than thanksgiving. That is why we read in scripture over and over God urging His people to be full of thanks. There are so many other benefits of gratitude. In her blog “6 Reasons Why to Teach Kids to Be Grateful,” Ann Voskamp notes the benefits of gratitude based on scientific research.
The kids who were raised with gratitude fared better in many ways. They displayed better attitudes, achieved personal goals, had close relationships and greater happiness, better grades, had higher energy, attentiveness, enthusiasm, and sensitiveness. “Gratitude is good for the giver and good for the receiver, and if We Don’t Practice Gratitude?
The research shows that youth who are ungrateful are “less satisfied with their lives and are more apt to be aggressive and engage in risk-taking behaviors, such as early or frequent promiscuous activities, substance use, poor eating habits, physical inactivity, and poor academic performance.” Gratitude is the Gateway to God. I want to close by teaching us a small chorus based on I Thes 5:16-18, “Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” Amen!
