Magnify the LORD with Thanksgiving! A Special Thanksgiving Sunday Message November 24, 2013 Psalm 69:30-36 by Pastor Paul K. Kim

30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. 31 This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. 32 When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. 33 For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. 34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. 35 For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it; 36 the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it. Psalm 69:30-36

FOUR OBSTACLES TO GIVING THANKS TO GOD Sufferings & Trials: When we are under the dreadful weight of stressful/sorrowful circumstances, we are apt to find no reason to give thanks to God. Pride & Self-sufficiency: When we are proud and self- sufficient, our hearts become callous and indifferent toward God. Insincere/dutiful worship: When we worship God out of mere dutifulness, our thanksgiving to God becomes an empty act. Spiritual apathy/numbness: When we are far away from God, we don’t feel the need to give thanks to God.

PSALM 69 REMEDIES: WHY SHOULD WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD? 1)Giving thanks to God MAGNIFIES THE LORD to others. I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving. (v. 30) 3 Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together! 4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:3-4  To “magnify the LORD” means to bring God’s GREATNESS closer and fuller to our limited poor vision (like “telescope” not like “microscope”– John Piper).  Our thanksgiving to God magnifies/glorifies the LORD.  Hence, the remedy for spiritual apathy is this: To give thanks to the LORD is to GLORIFY GOD AND ENJOY HIM!

PSALM 69 REMEDIES: WHY SHOULD WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD? 2)Giving thanks to God PLEASES THE LORD more than religious dutifulness. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs. (v. 31) 9 I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. 10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High. Psalm 50:13-14  God doesn’t have a need (self-existence) that we can improve in any way; the LORD already owns everything.  Thanksgiving to God pleases him because it is of our heart.  Hence, the remedy for dutiful/ritualistic worship is to offer our wholehearted thanksgiving that please the LORD.

PSALM 69 REMEDIES: WHY SHOULD WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD? 3)Giving thanks to God KEEPS US HUMBLE before God & people. 32 When the humble see it they will be glad; you who seek God, let your hearts revive. 33 For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own people who are prisoners. (vs ) The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17  Pride/self-sufficiency blinds us from our need for God; cure for a callous heart is humility—a realization of true self.  So, when we give thanks humbly, it revives our heart.  Hence, the remedy for pride and self-sufficiency is to humble ourselves to God by giving thanks to the LORD.

PSALM 69 REMEDIES: WHY SHOULD WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD? 4)Giving thanks to God BRINGS US HOPE THAT OVERCOMES our current sufferings and trials.

1 Save me, O God! For the waters have come up to my neck. 2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. 3 I am weary with my crying out; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God But I am afflicted and in pain; let your salvation, O God, set me on high! 30 I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify him with thanksgiving... Psalm 69:1-3, 29-30

PSALM 69 REMEDIES: WHY SHOULD WE GIVE THANKS TO GOD? 4)Giving thanks to God BRINGS US HOPE THAT OVERCOMES our current sufferings and trials. 34 Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves in them. 35 For God will save Zion and build up the cities of Judah, and people shall dwell there and possess it; 36 the offspring of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it. (vs )  Like David in this psalm, our lives are also not exempt from sufferings and trials, but we are to give thanks in them.  Why? It is the hope in Christ is greater, more powerful, and far more lasting than our sufferings—the eternal salvation!  Hence, the remedy for our dreadful circumstances is to enlarge our heart to see this hope by giving thanks to God!

Giving Thanks to God in Dreadful Circumstances “Fleas!” I cried. “Betsie, the place is swarming with them!... How can we live in such a place!” “Show us. Show us how.” It was said so matter of factly it took me a second to realize she was praying... “That’s it, Corrie! That’s His answer. ‘Give thanks in all circumstances!’ That’s what we can do. We can start right now to thank God for every single thing about this new barracks!” I stared at her, then around me at the dark, foul-aired room. “Such as?” I said. “Such as being assigned here together.” I bit my lip. “Oh yes, Lord Jesus!” “Such as what you’re holding in your hands.” I looked down at the Bible. “Yes! Thank You, dear Lord, that there was no inspection when we entered here! Thank You for all the women, here in this room, who will meet you in these pages.”…“Thank You,” Betsie went on serenely, “for the fleas and for–” The fleas! This was too much. “Betsie there’s no way even God can make me grateful for a flea.” “‘Give thanks in all circumstances,’” she quoted. “It doesn’t say, ‘in pleasant circumstances.’ Fleas are part of this place where God has put us.” And so we stood between piers of bunks and gave thanks for fleas. But this time I was sure Betsie was wrong...

Giving Thanks to God in Dreadful Circumstances (Cont’d)... Her eyes were twinkling. “You’re looking extraordinarily pleased with yourself,” I told her. “You know we’ve never understood why we had so much freedom in the big room,” she said. “Well–I’ve found out.” That afternoon, she said, there’d been confusion in her knitting group about sock sizes and they’d asked the supervisor to come and settle it. “But she wouldn’t. She wouldn’t step through the door and neither would the guards. And you know why?” Betsie could not keep the triumph from her voice: “Because of the fleas! That’s what she said, ‘That place is crawling with fleas!’” My mind rushed back to our first hour in this place. I remembered Betsie’s bowed head, remembered her thanks to God for creatures I could see no use for. — Corrie Ten Boom

“What do You give thanks to God for?” Concerning CrossWay/my home church? Concerning my life, family, and work? Thank You LORD for… LET’S MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH THANKSGIVING: