Living with Gratitude

“LIVING WITH GRATITUDE” PSALM 40:5 INTRO: In his book Folk Psalms of Faith, Ray Stedman tells of an experience H. A. Ironside had in a crowded restaurant. Just as Ironside was about to begin his meal, a man approached and asked if he could join him. Ironside invited him to have a seat. Then, as was his custom, Ironside bowed his head in prayer. When he opened his eyes, the other man asked, "Do you have a headache?" Ironside replied, "No, I don't." The other man asked, "Well, is there something wrong with your food?" Ironside responded, "No, why?" "Well," the man said, "I saw you sitting there with your head down and I thought you must be sick, or that there was something wrong with your food." Ironside replied, "No, I was simply thanking God as I always do before I eat." The man said, "Oh, you're one of those, are you? Well, I want you to know I never give thanks. I earn my money by the sweat of my brow and I don't have to give thanks to anybody when I eat. I just start right in!" Ironside said, "Yes, you're just like my dog. That's what he does too!" We live in a ungrateful world. Bart Simpson, in a program aimed at millions of America’s youth, is Asked to say grace and he says, “Dear God, we paid for all this stuff, so thanks for nothing.” What an ungrateful people we have become! If you have attended Church for very long you have seen ingratitude, there are people who attend church just to get married. Once they are married it takes the FBI to find them. There are folks who use the church for funerals, but once the funeral is over, they will not put a foot inside the church until the next funeral takes place. There are people who will come to church and ask for financial help, but after the church helps them they go attend some other church that has not done anything for them. We live in a society with very little gratitude. Today let us look at verse 5 as the basis for this message on gratitude. We see: (1) David’s Confession. As he ponders on all the blessings, He confesses that God has bestowed them upon him. He says, “Many O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done.” God has done so much for us, but He receives so little praise for the great things He has done. He deserves all the credit. Politicians do this all he time. The Republicans get upset when then Democrats take credit for something. And then the Democrats get upset when the Republicans take credit for something. But this is not different than many today. God does all the blessing and they take all the credit. We should be expressing gratitude all the time for what God has done. But many act as if every things the own and everything they have achieved in this life, they did on their own. But the fact is in most cases they have very little to do with it. People today are so proud. They want no one to share the spotlight with them, not even God. God cannot use them because if He did they would take all the credit. Psalm 115: 1 tells us, “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.” David knew who to give praise to, he said, “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done.” This is DAVID’S CONFESSION, but note also: (2) David’s Counting. We sing the song which says, “Count your blessings, name them one by one..” This is something we should not only sing, but something we should also do. As David thought about the blessings of God, he said, they are “…more than can be numbered.” That is true of each of us. We have more blessings than we can possibly count. We have looked at DAVID’S CONFESSION, DAVID’S COUNTING, but also let us look at: (3) David’s Consciousness. David was aware that God was doing some wonderful things in his life. He refers to them as “wonderful works.” Many today do not realize how much God loves them, and the number of wonderful things He has done for them. When a parent tells a child they cannot spend the night over at someone’s house because they are bad company, Are these parents being unkind? NO, they are protecting their child. That is a wonderful thing! Many times God tells us we cannot do certain things, not because He is unkind, but because of His love and protection operating in our lives. Are we all glad that our parents did not let us do every thing we wanted to do when we were young? If they had, most of us would not be here today. David called the blessings of God, “wonderful works”. This comes from a grateful heart. The effects of gratitude in David’s life can be seen in two ways: (1) DAVID PRAISES GOD ILLUS: If my lips could sing as many songs as there are waves in the sea: if my tongue could sing as many hymns as there are ocean billows: if my mouth filled the whole firmament with praise: if my face shone like the sun and moon together: if my hands were to hover in the sky like powerful eagles and my feet ran across mountains as swiftly as the deer; all that would not be enough to pay you fitting tribute, O Lord my God. -- Hymn probably composed in the Talmudic period, 3rd-5th century A.D., in Praying with the Jewish Tradition (comp. Elias Kopciowski). Christianity Today, Vol. 41, no. 9. *WHY DOES DAVID PRAISE THE LORD?: A. Because God Heard (v1). “….He inclined unto me, and heard my cry.” Aren’t you glad that as a Child of God, God hears you when you cry out to Him? ILLUS: How horrible would it be if you were out somewhere in the forest and you injured yourself and could not move? As you lay there, you scream and holler for someone to help, but no one is there to help. God hears us when we cry out to HIM. David thanked the LORD for hearing his request. God always hears us and… 1. Sometimes the prayers are answered quickly. Isaiah 65:24 says, “and it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” 2. Sometimes the prayers are answered later. Daniel 10:12-13a tells us, “Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days….” David praised God BECAUSE GOD HEARD, but also David praised God… B. Because God Helped (v2a). We read, “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay….” Christian, are you glad that HE one day brought you out of the horrible pit of sin and lifted you out of the miry clay of iniquity that you were in? But praise God, He doesn’t save us and then leave us alone to bear lives burdens. He has promised in His Word, “..I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper…” (Hebrews 13:5b-6a). Charles Spurgeon said, “These words are remarkably forcible in the original. You probably have heard that in the Greek there are no less than five negatives. WE cannot well translate them into English except in such a language as that of the verse we are singing now: The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes, That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake. (Those words are From the hymn, “How Firm a Foundation” (author unknown). (1)

ILLUS: Many when catastrophes strike, whether it be hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, or earthquakes, have started wearing t-shirts saying “I survived…” This has become the popular thing to do. These are worn in pride as if they had a part in their survival. But if it were not for the Grace and providence of God they would not have survived. But David realized where his help came from. He knew how to survive the storms of life. David praised God because God HEARD HIM and HELPED HIM. He acknowledged what God had done for him. Look what God had done: 1. God put security in his life (v2b). David said that God “..Set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.” Matthew Henry said, commenting on this verse, “They are brought up out of a horrible pit. Christ is the Rock on which a poor soul can alone stand fast. Where God has given stedfast hope, he expects there should be a steady, regular walk and conduct.” Many times we wonder if we are going to make it through the storms of life. Whether we are going to survive them, but thank God, when He saved us He set our feet upon a Rock! ILLUS: I remember at Stonehaven, when I was a minister there, I was out in the clear, cool bay, when the water got suddenly choppy and my strength was soon exhausted. You that are swimmers know the sensation. The waves playing on your face, as if beating you back to the current that was about to take hold of you. No one in sight. Wearily on and on, and the body gets almost erect. You cannot swim any longer; you have lost the power of prostration and progression, and you are nigh erect. I had almost gone, when suddenly there came to my foot the sensation of solid amid the waves. Oh, to describe what I felt as I stood there, rescued from death. How solid the rock seemed. How I thank God that that rock had just been placed out there amid the waves for me, and that he had taken my feet and fixed them there. That is the nearest that I can give to the sensation of the soul when Christ lays hold of you, saves you, and sets your feet on a rock. -- J. Robertson. By J. Wilbur Chapan, "Present Day Parables." We can truly say with David, “For who is God, save the Lord? And who is a rock, save our God.” (2 Samuel 22:32), and Hannah, after the birth of Samuel, “There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.” (1 Samuel 2:2). We are not like the lost world that does not have anything to to hang onto. This is why the world turns to drugs and alcohol. But thank God, we have the ROCK OF AGES to cling to in the midst of the raging storms of life!

GOD PUT SECURITY IN DAVID’S LIFE, and also God helped him Because… 2. God put a song in his life (v3a). David said, “And He hath put a new song in my mouth…” David calls this a “new song” that means it is totally different from anything we have known before. It is the song of the Redeemed and a song only they can truly sing! We have a song of JOY because now we are the Children of God. It is the joy of the Lord in our hearts! Ephesians 5:19 instructs us to be, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” All God's people have reason to sing for joy. Though we are not always singing, we should be always giving thanks; we should never want disposition for this duty, as we never want matter for it, through the whole course of our lives. (Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary). The effects of gratitude in David’s life can be seen as DAVID PRAISES GOD, but also as… (2) DAVID PLEASES GOD *Friend, if you have been saved by God’s Grace, you are a soldier in God’s army. The battle is raging and Satan wants to do anything and everything he can to defeat God’s purposes. What better way than to get the eyes of God’s people off of God and unto the things of this world. 2 Timothy 2:4 tells us, “No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.” *Gratitude affects the whole person.  With his Voice, David gave praise.  With his Life, David pleased God. The blood-bought, born-again child of God will praise God but also He will please God. If you graciously do something for me, and I turn around and do something to displease you, I AM NOT GRATEFUL for what you did for me. *How Did David Please the Lord? Notice: A. David’s Trust (v4a). David said, “Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust…” God desires for us to have our complete trust in HIM and HIM ALONE! Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” Charles Spurgeon said, “Let us lean on God with all our weight. Let us throw ourselves on his faithfulness as we do on our beds, bringing all our weariness to his dear rest.” (2) ILLUS: A man named Steve Winger relates this story. On a recent ski trip, I saw to my surprise a blind person skiing. The blind skier, wearing a bright pink vest, stayed directly behind an instructor, listening for directions on how and when to turn. Over the next several days I saw many blind skiers, invariably following the person who gave them the information they needed to make it safely down the mountain. Abiding in Jesus means following him with complete trust, in the same Way. The Lord wants us to trust HIM, because in so doing, we show that HE IS GOD THE FATHER and We are HIS CHILDREN. God is not like some parents today who have switched roles with their children:  In some families, the children have become the parents and they determine what church they will attend.  In some families, the children have become the parents and determine what clothes they will wear and not wear.

And if these parents say anything to these children, they are treated as If they are stupid and do not know anything. But God the Father does not switch roles with His Children. When we put our trust in Him we are saying, “God you are my Heavenly Father, and I am your child. I trust you in all things. You know what is best for me!” DAVID’S TRUST PLEASED GOD, but also note… B. David’s Thanksgiving (v5). David declares, “Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works….” When we are grateful it pleases God. ILLUS: Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it. -- A. W. Tozer in Signposts. Christianity Today, Vol. 39, no. 13. When we give to someone and they never stop to say, “thank you,” it makes us less like to give again. Why? Because they show no gratitude. How it must break the heart of God to be so good to each of us and for us so many times be so ungrateful! Verse 8 says, “I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.” The grateful heart will be a willing heart. It will delight in pleasing God and doing God’s will. CLOSING: Forgive Me When I Whine Today upon a bus, I saw a lovely maid with golden hair; I envied her -- she seemed so gay, and how, I wished I were so fair; When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle; she had one foot and wore a crutch, but as she passed, a smile. Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two feet -- the world is mine. And when I stopped to buy some sweets, the lad who served me had such charm; he seemed to radiate good cheer, his manner was so kind and warm; I said, "It's nice to deal with you, such courtesy I seldom find"; he turned and said, "Oh, thank you sir." And then I saw that he was blind. Oh, God, forgive me when I whine, I have two eyes, the world is mine. Then, when walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue; he stood and watched the others play, it seemed he knew not what to do; I stopped a moment, then I said, "Why don't you join the others, dear?" He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear. Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two ears, the world is mine. With feet to take me where I'd go; with eyes to see the sunsets glow, with ears to hear what I would know. I am blessed indeed. The world is mine; oh, God, forgive me when I whine. If we are grateful to God for Who He is, and for What He has done, We need to show it on our lives, just as David did. David PRAISED GOD and David PLEASED GOD. What about you? Are you living with gratitude? NOTES: 1. Charles H. Spurgeon. 2200 Quotations from the Writings of Charles H. Spurgeon. pp. 354-355. 2. Spurgeon. p. 210.