Psalm 117 these words Sabbath after Sabbath, continually looking to God’s promised Savior. As we continue that worship, may God’s words from the Psalms Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2019 become a treasure for us as they fill us with faith and hope. The shortest Psalm in the Bible is the text for today. Psalm 117 urges us to “Praise Praise the LORD, all you nations. Worship him, every race of the LORD.” We praise the Lord because he has loved us in Christ and people. For his mercy overwhelms us, and the faithfulness of the because he is faithful to his promises. LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD. I know we are thankful for a whole long list of things that God has given us. We worship him for all of them. It is Theme: Praise the LORD interesting, however, what comes to mind first when we make our thankful I. He has loved us in Christ list. Isn’t it usually things? Homes and cars and jobs and insurance. Games II. He is faithful to his promises and clothes and phones and toys. We measure our pile of stuff against the pile of our neighbor, our friend, our brother or sister, and we are INJ What is your favorite part of the Bible? When you think about it, thankful. Or we praise God for people. Moms and dads, children, friends, that is not the easiest question to answer. Of course, all of the Bible is people at church. Doctors, care givers, professionals. People who love us good. It is all inspired and all useful “for teaching, rebuking, and who do things for us we couldn’t do for ourselves. We are thankful correcting, and training in righteousness.” Yet some parts stick in our for them. Our list of thankful things includes what makes us happy, what memory better than others. The depiction of the parts of the tabernacle in gives us pleasure, what benefits us. Exodus is not nearly as familiar as the accounts of Abraham, Isaac, and Then we turn right around and take all those things for granted. Jacob. Jesus’ parables are easier to retell than the places Paul visited on his We abuse the treasures we are entrusted with. We lose and abuse things missionary journeys. and get mad at people. We want more and different stuff. We are not Many have memorized parts of Scripture. In Confirmation Class satisfied or content. “Praise the LORD” can quite easily become a trivial we expect the children to learn and repeat God’s Word. What about the or trite saying that means very little. adults? Did you know that many of the songs of our liturgy are words Shouldn’t we put at the top of our list the one thing the Psalmist taken directly from the Bible? “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” includes for us? “Praise the LORD all you nations. Worship him, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of heavenly hosts.” “O Christ, Lamb every race of people. For his mercy overwhelms us.” In mercy, God of God, you take away the sin of the world.” “Lord, now you let has loved us. All those things we have and hold dear are only the smallest your servant depart in peace according to your word.” We know reflection of his love. The deepest measure of his love is Christ Jesus our those songs and treasure them in our hearts because they are the word of Lord. God has loved us in Christ. He has given us our greatest need! our God. Just consider what life would be like for you if you did not have to Some parts of Scripture are logical and straightforward. Paul’s worry about money at all, but you did have to wonder if God loved you letter to the Romans is an example. He walks us through the basics of or would ever forgive you. What would it be like to trade the frustrations Christian Doctrine: sin, grace, forgiveness, our struggle, our confidence, of your life for no stress, but then have no confidence of heaven either? God’s faithfulness, and our willing service. Other parts of Scripture are The way Jesus put it was this: “What good is it for a man to gain the different. They let us see inside the heart and mind of the person. The whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” Psalms are that way. They help us understand the battle with sin by You know what it is like to be burdened by sin. To feel the guilty expressing emotion and feeling. They give us the prayers of faithful conscience burn within you. To look over your shoulder to see if anyone believers who faced trial just like we do. saw what you did. God saw it. He knows and he hates sin. His curse stands On this Thanksgiving Day we have surrounded ourselves with the before the guilty sinner and it is unmoveable. “The soul that sins is the Psalms. We have sung them and read them responsively. The book of one that shall die.” God is not talking there about deranged people Psalms was the hymnal of the Old Testament church. They sang and read somewhere else in the world. He is talking about you and me – sinners forgotten and useless. who have severed the connection with God by our repeated rebellion. Does God fall into that hole sometimes? We used to sing and pray That is how God describes us by nature. What, then, is our in church and do our devotions at home, but then we kind of lost touch. greatest need? It is to be reconciled to God. To re-connect with him. That Time got away from us. Life happened. We need peace with God, and is an impossible task, for holy God cannot tolerate unholy sinners. Jesus gives it to us, but how long have you gone without hearing it? Do Praise the LORD! He has done the impossible. He sent his Son to you wonder if God will take you back? If the people will welcome you take our place and remove the curse. Jesus reconciled us to God by his home? Can I still praise the LORD? The Psalmist assures us that God is death and resurrection. He has done it, and it is marvelous in our eyes! In always ready to do exactly what he has promised. “The faithfulness of Hebrew “Praise the LORD” is Hallelujah or Alleluia. Praise the LORD for the LORD endures forever.” Hallelujah! Praise the LORD! giving us our greatest need – Jesus our Savior. God’s faithfulness does not depend on us. He does not tell us that God has brought that message right to our heart and filled us with he will forgive us if we clean up our lives. He does not say he will love us if his Spirit. At baptism, God connected with you and brought you to faith. we love him back. He loved us first. He forgave all sinners in Christ. The In the preached and read and heard and remembered gospel word, God whole thing is already completed! God now offers and gives peace and assures us that he meant what he said. We can trust him! In the Lord’s forgiveness. Freely. He does not hold back at all. Even if we have Supper, Jesus gives his body and blood in, with, and under the bread and dismissed it in the past or have lost our interest in it for a while, God does wine for our forgiveness. God has come to us! He has given us our not stop. He proclaims his faithful love. You are forgiven. Believe it! greatest need. Praise the LORD! That is a message that runs counter to all we see and hear in our On top of the priceless gift of forgiveness and peace and fellowship world. Everything there depends on us. Black Friday deals await, if you with God, he also fills our life with this bounty. The things we pile up and time it right. God gives his deal with no restrictions. Christ paid for all count, the relationships we hold dear, the memories and the your sin. He gives peace and hope and joy. Not because of anything you opportunities. All of it comes from the one who has redeemed us! have done. Only because of what God has done. He has loved. “The Certainly we must sing with the Psalmist: “For his mercy overwhelms faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.” Praise the LORD! us!” All that we need and desire is a gift from our heavenly Father. He The Psalms are a wonderful way for us to dig into the depths of gives so abundantly we cannot count his generosity. Praise the LORD! God’s love and faithfulness. This short Psalm helps us see God as worthy This shortest Psalm focuses us on what is most important. Here is of our worship, not because of the long list of good things he gives us, but law (we need a Savior!) and gospel (God has loved us in Christ). We are because of Christ our Savior. The other Psalms do much the same thing. led both to repentance and to faith. Do you see how warm and dear the Learn from them. Read them. Think about what they say. Often the Psalms are? Here we learn to live what we know in our heads. Here we see words from Psalms are used in table prayers, or as bedtime meditations. I God’s grace that is reflected in the vivid and vibrant threads of our life. use them at the hospital and in the homes of shut-ins. They refresh me Our life is not always so vivid and vibrant, is it? The hymn writer when I am worn out and they direct me when I have wandered. says, “Change and decay in all around I see.” Even if you are not looking Let this Thanksgiving be an encouragement for us to use the at a dilapidated house or a company on the brink of bankruptcy or at a Psalms. The ones in the service today focused on thanksgiving. Others loved one suffering disease and pain, there is only change and decay tackle the issue of suffering, of doubt, of opposition. They teach, they around us. Marketing puts a positive spin on it. They call it “new and praise, they warn, they comfort. Use the Psalms. Make them one of your improved.” It is better, stronger, and now there is even more value for favorite parts of the Bible. God will build your faith by his Word. He will your buck. It is not true. We just threw away a pile of old cell phones. We move you to praise his name, and to worship him without end. Not have all kinds of once awesome things to junk out. I bet you have things because it is Thanksgiving, but because he has loved you in Christ, and stuck in a corner or hiding in the back of a closet. Things that used to be because he is faithful to his promises. “Praise the LORD!” SDG Amen. good, but now ... how quickly what we used to treasure and use becomes