Why Should I Be Thankful To God?
Text - Psalm 107:1-9
Introduction
This morning our text is found in Psalm 107:1-9 and the title of my message is, “Why I Should Be Thankful To God?”
On November 26th we are going to celebrate Thanksgiving.
After President George Washington made the first official Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789, there wasn’t another Thanksgiving Day observed for another 74 years.
In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln issued another proclamation which declared that Thanksgiving was to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November every year.
Then in 1940 President Roosevelt changed this date to the third Thursday in November.
While this day has been set aside for giving thanks, we should not limit our gratitude to God on just that one day.
Everyday should be a day of thanks for all that God has done for us.
Several years ago a family drove back East to spend Thanksgiving Day with their relatives. On the way, their car began giving them trouble. Fortunately, they found a gas station open where a mechanic was on duty. But he didn't have the parts to make the necessary repairs, so they were delayed until he could locate them.
They finally arrived late at night at the home where their loved ones were waiting anxiously. But their troubles weren't over. By morning, most of them had the flu! When the time came to return home, they still weren't feeling well. To make matters worse, about halfway home the baby also became ill.
Worn out and discouraged, they continued on in silence. Then one of the little tykes in the back seat piped up, "What ever happened to Thanksgiving?"
That's the way we sometimes react to adversities. When all's well and things are going our way, it's easy to praise the Lord. But when our plans are disrupted, bills pile up, our health fails, or disappointments come, thankfulness seems to disappear. Yet the Bible tells us to give thanks in everything! When we do, we won't ask, "What ever happened to Thanksgiving?" Every day will be thanksgiving!
Here in our text we find a Thanksgiving Psalm that gives us three reasons why we should be thankful to God.
Matthew Henry, a great Bible commentator, wrote in his diary after he had been robbed by some thieves, why he was thankful:
“Let me be thankful first, because I was never robbed before. Second, although they took my money, they did not take my life. Third, because although they took my all, it was not much. And lastly, because it was I who was robbed and not I who robbed.”
Are you thankful today? Why? What are the reasons why you are thankful? As children of God we have many reasons why we should be thankful. There are so many reasons that we don’t have time to even mention them today. But David gives us some basic reasons why we should all give thanks. Today I’d like us to learn three reasons why we should all give thanks to God today.
Psalm 107:1-9 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever. 2Let the redeemed of the Lord say this--those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, 3those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. 4Some wandered in desert wastelands, finding no way to a city where they could settle. 5They were hungry and thirsty, and their lives ebbed away. 6Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 7He led them by a straight way to a city where they could settle. 8Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, 9for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.