October 10, 2010
Scripture:
Psalm 45:1
Our Lord’s soul was troubled. Because of all He went through, we can have a heart that wells up as the psalmist here. He was occupied with his king, we should be occupied with our Saviour. Instead of a troubled heart, may we have a heart of that bubbles over as we look at the things that touch Christ. It’s precious to get that close.
Hymn 335 - I am so Glad that Our Father in Heaven
Prayer
I thought I’d change my topic today, because it’s Thanksgiving. Let’s start by looking at how to say “thank you” in different languages.
English - Thank-you
French - Merci
Spanish - Gracias
Amish - Denki
German - Dankeshon
Italian - Grazie
Hindi - Shukriyah
Chinese:
Mandarin - xièxiè
Cantonese - dwo tse
Japanese - Arigato
Why do we give thanks before we eat? Well, all our food comes from God, so we want to say “thank-you” to Him before we eat. “Amen” means “I agree” or “Let it be so”, so when we say ‘amen’ it is to show that we mean what we say.
Now let’s look at some verses on thankfulness.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 - No matter what circumstances we are in, God expects us to give thanks.
2 Corinthians 9:15 - What was God’s gift? It was His Son. Why is it unspeakable? We talk about it all the time. It is so amazing and fantastic, that we can’t ever fully explain it. Have you ever thanked Him for what He did for you?
Galatians ?:?? - Do you think you can give thanks in every situation? What if you broke your arm? Could you give thanks for that? This verse shows us how thankful we ought to be.
Psalm 107:22 - This gives us an idea of how important it is to give thanks, and how much God appreciates it.
Matthew 11:25 - Here the Lord is thanking His Father. We can see that He had a thankful heart.
Now I’d like to give you some personal examples of thankfulness. It’s not to boast, or to make you think I’m perfect, because I’m not; but just to give you some examples.
I’m on a drug for cancer that makes your muscles weak, so I have to really watch where I’m going. I have fallen several times because I haven’t seen a curb or something similar. But I’m thankful that I’ve never broken a bone through any of those falls.
When I was first diagnosed with cancer, my PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) was at 7,000. Normal is 4 or less. The doctors gave me some drugs, and they brought that number down to normal. For that I am eternally grateful.
I’m also thankful for a clear mind at this age, so I can pray and meditate if I can’t get to sleep at night. At this age, some people get Alzheimer’s disease and can’t think right.
I also have three points on thankfulness:
So often, God raised up prophets at times of ruin and unfaithfulness. The last three prophets in the Old Testament—Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi—are post-exile prophets; they come after the Jews have returned from captivity. Haggai and Zechariah prophesied during the rebuilding of Jerusalem. As we’ve seen Malachi came some time later, when only a very few were going on for the Lord.
We’ve seen in v. 16 that there were four things that characterized those who went on for the Lord:
When the Lord saw these things, He responded, or observed (Darby). He heard them. We can be thankful that the Lord hears us when we gather together.
Does God really have a notebook? Is He really writing things down? Well, God is using imagry that we are able to understand in this passage. But He does keep track of what has been done; why? He does it so that when all is said and done, He can give the faithful ones rewards at the Judgement Seat of Christ.
We have a good example of this in Hebrews 11; that chapter is God’s commentary on the worthies of faith. He kept track of their actions.
We find in v. 17 that God will use those who fear Him for jewellery. Again, God is using a metaphor that we can understand. We will make up His “crown”; we will be the things that bring Him glory. You could say that some of these people who feared the Lord are His “celebrities”; they’re certainly a different set of people than those the world chooses as celebrities! God’s are the few people who fear Him and do His will.
The Lord spares those who fear Him from judgement, just as a father would do for his child. We can see many parallels between ourselves and those whom we are reading about in Malachi. They were a small remnant at the end of their time; are we not the same? May we desire to go on faithfully for Him.
Hymn 179 - Nothing but Christ, as on we tread
Prayer