I don't know that if I've mentioned this in all six of my previous Thanksgiving sermons or not, but I think maybe at some point in all of them, probably, I've mentioned how I can't believe that we're to this point in the calendar already. I didn't want to do that again this year, so I thought I just mentioned it casually like that. Now, obviously, I am bringing it up in all seriousness, this is such an important holiday. And I think it sneaks up on us, even though we have warning sign upon warning sign that it's coming. Fall starts. Kids go back to school, the leaves start to change. Harvest starts, and by God's grace, usually we are done before Thanksgiving, right? Before you gather for the meal, it's always good when you know you don't have to go back out and try and finish that up. And there is even more stuff that happens that should cause this holiday not to be something that surprises us. for example a particular subset of our culture has been excited about pumpkin spice lattes for several weeks already. That's a particular group of people who get excited about those. And I think some of you probably just shared a sideways glance with somebody.

We have, not too long ago, we had children adorned in costumes wandering our streets hoping to fill large bags with candy they don't pay a cent for. And then the next day, Christmas music started whether it was in the stores or over the radio waves, it started. Ultimately, there's no reason, especially with Black Friday sales starting, what, a week or two now before Black Friday, there's no reason we should be surprised, or feel that thanksgiving is sneaking up on us. But I think from talking with other people and how I think about this every year. I think most of us are always shocked every single year that it's here. And I think this is a blessing in many ways that we have this fast paced life. But then suddenly we have to slam on the brakes. We have to take a day off and we give thanks. It's a date fixed in our calendars where we acknowledge those things that we are thankful for. And this is particularly important for us as believers to have a day of Thanksgiving is an inherently theistic thing to do, and even more so for us as Christians, because scripture reveals to us not only the sovereignty of God, but his benevolence and his love for his creation.

 

And we see the pinnacle of blessing and love and the truth of the incarnation of God, the son who came to suffer and to die in our place to bear the wrath of God for our sin. And so, as I said, a day of Thanksgiving is slamming on the brakes and stopping our busy lives is a blessing for us because it causes us to remember that we are not as autonomous as we like to think that we are. Dependent on a great God who blesses his creation abundantly. Again, it's an inherently theistic endeavor to have a day of Thanksgiving for to give thanks is to acknowledge your need to and we are grateful that need has been provided for. Now, certainly we could gather to thank the people around us, other humans who have given of themselves for us, but. Then we have to be inherently drawn to a greater question, an obvious question, right? That would come from us just thanking another human. Well, where did that person receive their blessings from? I and so we have to ultimately understand that we are receiving blessings from someone who is greater than ourselves. Someone who is more powerful than us, someone who is a giver of good gifts, and so this is why we are here today.

You have come to that understanding that you have blessings from God and you desire to bring an offering of praise to the triune God for all of the blessings that he has bestowed upon you. So as we consider these things, these truths today, we go to the Psalter. And we consider what Chapter 116 had to say about offering thanks to God in this passage. I want us to dwell on two big themes, two big thoughts that just come out at us through this passage and that is the root of the love that we have for God and what our right response then is for this God who has blessed us, this God who loves us. And so we see right away in Psalm 116 verse 1, the Psalmist says something that's truly amazing. He says, I love the Lord. Now, that's just four words, a simple statement. We can understand that but it is an amazing statement, an astounding statement, as a matter of fact. How amazing is it that the Psalmist is able to express this love that he has for the Lord of heaven and earth? I mean the first thing here that's amazing is that it lets us know that God is knowable.

 

You can't love someone that you don't know. Imagine you're having a conversation with someone that you know. And they tell you this, I love Lydia Perkins. What would your first response be? Goodness, who's Lydia Perkins? And imagine if your friend said, I don't know. You'd think they had lost their minds. You can't love somebody you don't know. You can't love someone without knowing who they are. Now, you and I are familiar with the idea of loving God because we know God. We are able to say that we love God because we know him. But let's stop and think for a second as we consider about things, consider things to give thanks for let's consider how amazing it is that we are able to know God and that we are able to love God. The creator of heaven and earth has made himself knowable to his creation. The creator of heaven earth. The mighty one has made himself known to you. The holiest one, the mighty one. He is knowable. That's a reason to give thanks in and of itself right there, isn't it? That we are able to know the potent tate of time, the one who is the greatest of all things.

 

He has made himself knowable to us. Now we know that he has made himself knowable in creation. Think about Romans 1. What does it tell us that he has made himself known in the things that he has made? And we are thankful to for the creation that is around us because it reveals to us who God is. But we don't know everything about God from looking at creation. We have an even greater reason to be thankful that God is knowable, we're able to know God because he has revealed himself to us in his word. We can be thankful that we know God is more than just a great designer who place the stars that we marvel at in the heavens or the one who designed the trees and the beauty of the valleys and rivers that we see, we know God in more ways than just those things that we can observe with our eyes through his holy word. We learn more about God than his creation could ever reveal to us. While it's obvious that our observation of the material world is able to tell us that God is powerful. We are able to know that this majestic creator, the one who spoke and all things were made, we're able to know, that he loves us, he loves his creation clearly revealed to us in his holy word.

 

And most importantly, we're able to know through this same Holy word that the love of God that he has for us is not simply an abstract idea or an emotional feeling. This is not just the warm feelings. You've heard me say this before. This love of God is not just the warm feelings that a deity out there somewhere has for you. When he thinks of you, he feels warm. That's not the love of God. We see the love of God and the truth that scripture reveals to us that God, the son became incarnate. He suffered and he died to pay for our rebellion against him. God's love is on display for us and it drips from every page of scripture that he loves us that he came for us. But there's something even more amazing about this forward statement. I love the Lord. It's about the fact that the Psalmist is able to love the Lord at all as reformed folk. We understand the depth of our sin and our rebellion against God. Humanity is fallen and totally depraved. It's the first one in that TULIP acronym they taught you in catechism when they talked about the canons of Dort.

 

Total depravity. We understand this. We know that our wills are bound by our sin. And so we cannot and we would not ever go to God on our own. We can't do that by our own strength. We would never do it. This is a truth that is clearly revealed in the word of God. And so the fact that the Psalmist is able to write out these words, I love the Lord testifies not only to the truths that God is knowable and that God has come near to him, but that God has given him the ability to believe he has given him the gift of faith. This is a humbling thing. It's an amazing thing to think about, the Psalmist is writing these words while his pagan neighbors are worshiping the idols of stone and of wood that they have formed with their own hands. And here the Psalmist is able to say these beautiful words. I love the Lord. That's amazing thing to consider, God is more knowable. Then we can even fathom, but we can't know him, on our own. And it's even more amazing that the fact that he has revealed himself to us, it is awe- inspiring that this God brings his people into relationship with them and they are able to use these words, they are able to utter them with their mouths, despite their rebellion against God, despite their heart hearts, they are able to say i love the lord, what a reason to give thanks.

 

And then we see that the Psalmist understands how amazing God is because of the reason that the Psalmist gives for loving God. It says that he loves the Lord, because he has heard the Psalmist voice and his pleas for mercy the Psalmist here shows us that he understands who this God is. He understands that God is good and that God is holy and that God is just a and the psalmist in and of himself knows that he is none of those things. He is one who cries out to God and who makes a plea for mercy, another sign that God has revealed himself to the Psalmist because the Psalmist here we see that he has been driven to repentance. Those who are dead in their trespasses and their sins, we know that they do not seek God on their own, they do not come to repentance, by their own strength. But when God, through his word and through his Spirit, makes himself known, his people respond and they confess their sins in repentance and faith. Again, not something that we do on our own, but something that God does. And we find the passage continuing to show us all of these truths that it says, an amazing statement here.

 

This is because God inclined his ear to me and it says, I will therefore call on him as long as I live. And this is really clear language for us, isn't it? The mercy that God has upon his people drives us to desire to live our lives in obedience to God. And notice here that the Psalmist doesn't say that he has brought himself towards God, that he has elevated himself to God. No, he doesn't say that. He but that God has come near to him. God has inclined his ear to hear the cries of mercy. Without God condescending to him, the cries for mercy would have gone unheard, but God has shown him mercy by drawing near to him, by inclining his ear to the psalmist. And this action on the part of God causes a response. We read that the Psalmist will call on God as long as he lives and he anticipates that God is going to continue to hear him because of this relationship that he has with God. And from these truths, we see the passage give us beautiful words about who our God is. In verse five, we're told that the Lord is gracious, that the Lord is righteous.

 

He is merciful. We find that he preserves the simple and there is a beautiful acknowledgment of the Psalmist need for God in this when he says that when I was brought low. God saved me, this is the understanding that I've been driving at here. An acknowledgment that we are incapable of this on our own and that we need someone greater than ourselves to rescue us when we are brought low, God inclines his ear to us and he comes and he rescues us, when we acknowledge that we are not autonomous, that we are not God ourselves. He comes to us in his mercy. And we know full well what the right response is to this astounding rescue that God blesses us with and in Psalm 116 makes it very clear for us in verses eight and nine here, God has delivered us from death. He has taken away our tears. He keeps our feet from stumbling. So how then do we respond. Verse nine tells us, that the Psalmist will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. What he is going to do is live a life of service to God. Has first served him by hearing his cries for mercy.

 

And so, his life becomes one of Thanksgiving to God. And as we come to verse 12, we see an amazing question, it is the ultimate question. And this is a question not only for the Psalmist, it's a question for you and I as well. And I think there are two layers to this question here, and the first one is the obvious part of this inquiry, what should I do? God has done all this stuff for me, how do I then respond? Pretty simple and straightforward, but. The second layer that comes out of this question at us is important as well, it's a sense of. What could I possibly give to God for what he's done? What could I? What could Mark render to God, the maker of heaven and earth? What could I give him? He is the creator of heaven and earth. He owns the cattle on a thousand hills we read in the psalms. He is infinite in wisdom. What could I render to God that he could possibly be in need of? The earth and the fullness thereof is all of his in the first place. Anything that I think that I could give to God is already his possession.

 

God doesn't need anything. He isn't going to starve. Or wish that he had some more money in his investment accounts. Even God didn't lose money in the FTX scandal. So if I'm seeing that I owe something to God, I'm not only wondering how I should do this, but I'm also going to naturally be at a complete loss at what I could possibly have to offer the lord of heaven and earth in the first place, regardless of your net worth, i there is nothing that you can offer to God that he is not already the owner of. And even if God needed anything, what is the price that I would pay as a rebellious creature who's been forgiven of his sin, I and has been given eternal life. I'm righteous before a holy God, what could I possibly pay that is worthy of that? What price tag could I put on it? There's nothing? So what shall I render to God that these are important questions, and we do well to consider all that has been laid out before us. When we think about these things, there's really only one thing that comes to mind and it is what we're here to do today, this God who we cannot pay anything to and who is beyond our ability to fully comprehend, this God has come near to us.

 

He has inclined his ear to our pleas for mercy. He has blessed us with the gift of repentance and with the forgiveness of sins. We have received the gift of faith and salvation. And we have more blessings than we could ever possibly be able to fully count. So what do we do? What else could we do? We worship him, period. We worship him. And the Psalmist drives this home for us as he says that he will lift up, the cup of salvation. There's an interesting contrast here in this statement. It doesn't mean much to us. Well, when we stop and think about it, but lifting up a cup, we just physically think of, OK, he's going to lift up a cup, he may be saying cheers or something. But if we think about how wrath is described in scripture, particularly in the Book of Revelation, which is just quoting stuff from the Old Testament, when we think about how wrath is described in the old Testament, it's usually described as a cup, having to bear the cup of wrath. But what does the Psalmist say here? He says that he is going to lift up a cup of salvation, he's believing that instead of receiving wrath, he has been given the grace of God.

 

So he's going to lift high that truth. He's going to lift up that truth that he has received salvation. We read here that he is going to continue to call on the name of the Lord and pay his vows to the Lord in the presence of the people of God. And so this is what we do, this is why we gather for worship, we are reminded of our salvation in Jesus and we hold it high. And together with the whole people of God, we confess that we believe in this God who has saved us and we devote ourselves to the service of the Lord. And as we look at verse 17, we see the word that is our focus today. Thanks giving. With all that we know about who we are, who God is and what he has done for us, we see that an offering of Thanksgiving is our only response and we do not cease to call on the name of the Lord, instead, we continually put our trust in him and we continue our allegiance to him and we see something important repeated for us. We do this in the presence of all his people.

 

We do not offer our Thanksgiving alone and we do not worship alone. We are the people of God together who have been rescued by his grace. We are not a solitary people, brothers and sisters. We are a people united with hearts of Thanksgiving to our God for who he is and for what he has done. And so Psalm 116 ends with very fitting words for the people of God. Praise the Lord! This is what the people of God do at all times and in all places we bring our praises to the Lord. So as we take time on this holiday to offer Thanksgiving, we lay our praises, we lay our prayers at the feet of the one who created us. We adore the one who has rescued us from sin and death we worship the one who is sovereign over every square inch of his creation because we know that we are nothing apart from him. We are nothing without him. And so, as we scatter from here to rev up our crockpots and fire up our ovens for the feast that is to come. May we be mindful of our desperate need for God and may this acknowledgement of our need for God and what he has given us, may it last beyond the wonderful leftovers and the football games.

 

May it spill over into every area of our lives that we might walk before the Lord, as the psalmist did living a life of worship. For if we desire to live a life of Thanksgiving, it will be a life of worship. And if we desire to live a life of worship, it must be one that is filled with Thanksgiving. They go hand in hand. And this lifestyle flows from an attitude of humility to that understands not only what God has done in our lives. But it also has a deep understanding of what God is doing now, what he continues to do now, the confession of faith that we're going to say very soon together here in the presence of all his people has a Beautiful statement in it that we need to hear and we need to believe it States in Heidelberg Catechism question and answer 86 that we do good because Christ, by his Spirit, is also renewing us to be like himself So that in our living we may show that we are thankful to God for all that he has For us. So as we gather with our loved ones, may the blessings that are called to mind as we look around our family and we consider those things that we're thankful for, maybe be reminded of what God has done and what he is doing for us.

 

And may this knowledge of these blessings remind us that God is always at work in us and with the Psalmist and with all the people of God. May we desire to continually praise the Lord. So may these last words of the Psalmist here today, praise the Lord be on our lips as we are blessed with hearts of Thanksgiving. Amen.