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Offering to God the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving (Psalm 116)
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“I will offer to You the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.” 116:17
Luke tells us in his Gospel account that during His last supper with the disciples, Jesus took the bread and the cup, and then, gave thanks. This was the night before His death. Obviously, He was not giddy in His emotions, but He was deliberate in the exercise of His will in obedience to Father’s plan as He offered what I would call, a “sacrifice of thanksgiving”.
Similarly, some scholars believe the historical setting of Psalm 116 was the trauma King Hezekiah experienced when Isaiah the prophet announced the king’s terminal illness. The background can be read in 2 Kings 20:1-11; 2 Chronicles 32:24-26 and Isaiah 38.
This psalm is extremely personal as the author refers to his own experiences 37x, ranging from the good, the bad to the ugly. Let’s run this psalm through a slow-motion replay and listen as Hezekiah gives us a frame by frame commentary on what he was going through spiritually.
William Bradford must have offered a “sacrifice of thanksgiving” as the Pilgrims offered thanksgiving in the early autumn of 1621. Less than one year before that Thanksgiving, while the Mayflower was anchored off Provincetown Harbor, the Pilgrims sent out several expeditions of men to explore the region to seek out the best place to build their colony. While William Bradford was away on one of these explorations, on December 7, 1620, his wife, Dorothy, fell off the Mayflower into the freezing waters of Provincetown Harbor, and drowned.
We can arrange our learning from this psalm around five fingers that King Hezekiah will slowly open up to the Lord as he offers to God his “sacrifice of thanksgiving.” As we approach Thanksgiving, perhaps this is a tougher year than unusual for you. If so, then follow Hezekiah’s example in offering thanks to God and praying about your hardships, praying not based upon feelings but faith. Giving thanks to God not because you are in a comfortable situation but because the Lord is worthy of praise.
Anguish beneath my praying, 116:3, 6, 10-11
Attention to my praying, 116:2, 4
Answer to my praying, 116:1-2, 6-9
Attitude with my praying, 116:5, 15-17
Advancing after my praying, 116:7, 13-14, 18-19
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Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Welcome and Opening Prayer
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message.
00:00:22
Speaker
If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, fbccolumbustx.org.
Thanksgiving Challenges and Jesus' Last Supper
00:00:32
Speaker
And now, take your copy of God's timeless Word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
King Hezekiah's Trauma and Psalm 116
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace. Hey, I want to talk to you about how sometimes Thanksgiving can feel more difficult than at other times. You know, Luke tells us in his gospel account that during his last supper with the disciples, Jesus took the bread and the cup and then he gave thanks.
00:01:06
Speaker
This was the night before his death. Obviously, he was not giddy in his emotions, but he was deliberate in the exercise of his will and obedience to the Father's plan as he offered what I would call a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
00:01:24
Speaker
Similarly, some scholars believe the historical setting behind Psalm 116 was the trauma King Hezekiah experienced when Isaiah the prophet announced the king's terminal illness.
00:01:38
Speaker
The background can be read in 2 Kings 20 verses 1 through 11, or 2 Chronicles 32, 24 to 26, or even in Isaiah of chapter 38.
00:01:51
Speaker
But this Psalm 116 that I'd like to share with you today, it's extremely personal as the author refers to his own experiences and 37 times, ranging from the good to the bad to the ugly.
Analyzing Psalm 116: Thanksgiving in Distress
00:02:10
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Let's run this psalm through a slow-motion replay, and I want you to listen as Hezekiah gives us a frame-by-frame commentary on what he was going through spiritually.
00:02:24
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You know, William Bradford, one of the pilgrims, as a matter of fact, the leader of the pilgrims that came to America, He must have offered a, quote, sacrifice of Thanksgiving, end of quote, as the pilgrims offered Thanksgiving in the early autumn of 1621.
00:02:42
Speaker
Less than one year before that Thanksgiving, while the Mayflower was anchored off Provincetown Harbor, the pilgrims sent out several expeditions of men to explore the region to seek out the best place to build their colonies.
00:02:58
Speaker
While William Bradford was away on one of these explorations, on December the 7th, 1620, his wife Dorothy fell off the Mayfire into the freezing waters of Provincetown Harbor, and she drowned.
00:03:16
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Can you imagine how tragic that was? What would it have been like for William Bradford less than a year later when he's giving thanks with all the other pilgrims for God's blessings?
00:03:29
Speaker
You see, we can arrange our learning today from this psalm around, let's pretend it's like five fingers. Rather than five closed fingers, five open fingers that Hezekiah will slowly open up to the Lord as he offers to God his sacrifice of thanksgiving.
00:03:50
Speaker
As we approach thanksgiving, perhaps this is a tougher year than usual for you. If so, then follow Hezekiah's example in offering thanks to God and praying about your hardships, praying not based upon feelings, but based upon faith.
00:04:09
Speaker
Giving thanks to God, not because you are in a comfortable situation, but because the Lord is worthy. of praise. Let me read Psalm 116 and then identify these five different ah fingers of faith that I feel Hezekiah used when he offered to God thanksgiving.
00:04:29
Speaker
It starts out in Psalm 116 verse 1 this way, I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him As long as I live, the snares of death encompassed me.
00:04:49
Speaker
The pangs of Sheol laid hold on me. I suffered distress and anguish. And then I called on the name of the Lord. O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul.
00:05:03
Speaker
Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Our God is merciful. The Lord preserves the simple. When I was brought low, he saved me.
00:05:14
Speaker
Return, o my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.
00:05:33
Speaker
I believed. Even when I spoke, I am greatly afflicted. I said in my alarm, all mankind are liars. What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me?
00:05:47
Speaker
i will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. i will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
00:05:58
Speaker
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. Oh Lord, i am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.
00:06:19
Speaker
I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the house of the Lord, in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Prayerful Response to Illness: Hezekiah's Example
00:06:28
Speaker
Praise the Lord. Well, let's go back through here frame by frame and let's let Hezekiah just talk to us. Just tell us because he can coach us in how we can still give thanks, even though maybe our circumstances are quite difficult.
00:06:46
Speaker
The first thing I wanted you to notice in some of the verses that he wrote, verse 3, for example, verse 6, verse 10 and 11, I think we can see what he was going through experientially and emotionally.
00:06:58
Speaker
when he was motivated to pray. There's anguish beneath his praying. I think that's the first thing Hezekiah would say to us. He would say, when I heard what Isaiah the prophet said, that you're going to die, you are not going to recover,
00:07:14
Speaker
I turned and faced the wall and I poured out my heart in prayer. That's what Hezekiah would tell us. And he would say, I did so because the snares of death encompassed me. The pangs of Sheol laid hold on me. I suffered distress and anguish.
00:07:32
Speaker
Can you hear his historical, real, personal situation? I mean, he's describing painful thoughts, Thoughts that he's perishing, thoughts that he's panicking.
00:07:44
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As he says, you know, I suffered distress and anguish. Who could blame him? But in the midst of that, you'll see in verse six that even though he describes being brought low, something very positive happened in the midst of the hardship.
00:08:02
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He says, when I was brought low, he saved me. Have you ever known someone who experienced salvation in Christ through a terrible affliction or disability?
00:08:15
Speaker
I know one man,
Spiritual vs. Physical Well-being: God Listens
00:08:16
Speaker
one man on Okinawa, he was a good friend of mine for many years, but he suffered a stroke. And the reason he suffered the stroke was, I think God was trying.
00:08:27
Speaker
He was trying to call him lovingly, but he wasn't listening. And so the Lord allowed him to have this terrible stroke. And in the stroke, he said, I surrender all.
00:08:39
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And he gave his all to Jesus Christ. But just because someone has faith, does that mean that they should never say that their um life situation is harsh or difficult?
00:08:52
Speaker
No, because listen to what he says in verse 10. Hezekiah says, I believed even when I spoke, I am greatly afflicted. You hear what he's saying?
00:09:04
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He's saying, I did trust God. I did believe in God, but I told God, Lord, I'm greatly afflicted. Please help me. You know, have you ever heard someone say something critical whenever they were going through maybe some serious illness?
00:09:22
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I have. And that's what he's saying in verse 11. He's saying, you know what? Sometimes things that came out of my mouth that day after I learned I had the terminal illness, I wish that I could have taken them back.
00:09:34
Speaker
He said, I said in my alarm, verse 11, all mankind are liars. Wow. What brought that out of him? you know Well, he's just dealing with it.
00:09:46
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Sometimes when When people are going through a hard time, their grief, their sorrow, their trauma over the whole thing, he causes them to say things they honestly don't mean.
00:09:57
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There are many times anguish that is underneath the praying. And that's what Hezekiah would say. But you know what he would say from verse 4? He would say, that's when I discovered something.
00:10:10
Speaker
He says in verse four, then. You see, he's coming right off the heels of verse three, where he described the anguish, the distress, where he described the physical ah pain and illness and how it was painful. And he thought, I'm not going to make it.
00:10:26
Speaker
And that's when verse four begins with this little bitty word, then. You know, then is a word that we use in English to indicate time, to indicate order or consequence. It's often used for sequencing events.
00:10:43
Speaker
What he's doing is he's testifying when Hezekiah gave his attention to prayer. You know, sometimes that's what the best way to find your way through a difficult situation. I'm not saying necessarily that all the time God will give you 15 more years. God will take away whatever it is. I'm not promising that.
00:11:03
Speaker
But what I am saying is if we'll turn to God in prayer, when then God's going to be working in helping us as we walk through that with him.
Continuous Prayer and God's Response
00:11:15
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But notice what he gave his attention to praying for. It may not be what you think. What would you be praying for? Wouldn't you be praying for his health, for his body?
00:11:26
Speaker
That's not what he prayed for. Let me just read that one more time. You know, if you're just listening, you might not have ah heard that. Then I called on the name of the Lord. Oh, Lord, I pray, deliver my soul.
00:11:42
Speaker
You see, he's not praying that God would take away the physical ailment. Not at this point. He's saying, Lord, something's not right between me and you.
00:11:52
Speaker
Deliver my soul. Rescue me, God. Rescue me. You see, the king, being king, he could have called on anyone he wanted.
00:12:03
Speaker
But notice who he gave his attention to at this point. Did he call for his servants? Did he call for the physicians? No, here's what it says again. Then i called on the name of the Lord.
00:12:18
Speaker
Oh Lord, I pray, deliver my soul. I think that's beautiful. That shows us how we can talk to God whenever we're hurting and whenever we're sick, when things aren't going the way we thought.
00:12:31
Speaker
But you know, Hezekiah reached a decision as to how long he would be attentive to his prayer life. Let me read verse two, because I really think you can see, you can hear Hezekiah telling you something.
00:12:47
Speaker
He said, through all of this, because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
00:12:58
Speaker
You know, I think something something changed in Hezekiah's life. Maybe there were times when he thought, you know, prayer is kind of optional. I don't feel like I've got time to pray today. I feel like from that point on, he said, God, if you will give me more time to live, if you'll help me through this.
00:13:15
Speaker
I will give you prayer every day of my life. As long as I live, I will pray. So I see
Trust and Gratitude Despite Hardships
00:13:22
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he's giving his attention to prayer.
00:13:26
Speaker
But let's also not miss what he tells us in verse 1, in verse 2, from verse 6 down all the way through verse 9. I think the third thing he would want us not to miss would be the answers.
00:13:38
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the answer to his praying. You know, as the author reflects back upon the answer that God graciously gave him to his prayer, I think he records some of the lessons that he learned about praying during suffering.
00:13:55
Speaker
Praying rather than shutting down. I've actually talked to people before, and I've heard people say in their testimonies that whenever God didn't, whenever they got sick, that they decided, I don't want to have anything else to do with God.
00:14:08
Speaker
They shut down their faith, not Hezekiah. When Hezekiah was told, you're sick and you're not going to get better. You're going to die.
00:14:19
Speaker
Something came alive in Hezekiah's faith. Something motivated him to pray. And so he's making notes that he doesn't want to forget. And he wants you and I to know about it. And that's why it's written here. He says, I love the Lord.
00:14:35
Speaker
Why do you love the Lord, Hezekiah? because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. If Hezekiah could say one thing to you and to me, what would he say to us?
00:14:48
Speaker
You know what I think he would say? i think he would say, God hears prayers. God hears prayers. He's not saying anything about God answering prayers. He's just saying God was listening.
00:14:59
Speaker
God was listening. I know he was listening. And so I thought that was really special. But in verse two, And I guess in verse six as well, if you want to include that, but he's stating something beyond just listening.
00:15:13
Speaker
He says, God actually cares about our prayers. Do you know that somewhere in the Bible, in Psalms, it actually says that he bottles our tears in in a bottle. So what he's trying to say by metaphor, metaphorically, I think God's trying to say, you know what? I really care about it.
00:15:30
Speaker
Your prayers touch my heart. And that's what I hear him saying when he says, because he inclined his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.
00:15:42
Speaker
You ever bend down whenever your kids were just toddlers, whenever they were maybe three years old or something, and they had something to say, did you ever kind of squat down and look them right in the eye and say, what did you want to say?
00:15:55
Speaker
What did you want to tell dad? That's what he's saying the father is like. Our heavenly father, cares whenever we're talking. He wants to listen whenever we're talking.
00:16:06
Speaker
As a matter of fact, you're not going to believe what Hezekiah wrote in verse 7. there's this There's a third lesson about prayer. He would say, as a matter of fact, he acknowledges that he gives more than what we pray for.
00:16:21
Speaker
Look at verse 7. Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you. Remember earlier, he's praying for his soul.
00:16:32
Speaker
And now he says, soul, you can go ahead and take another breath. Go ahead rest easy. Go ahead and have peace because the Lord has dealt bountifully for you.
00:16:43
Speaker
See, God's not just trying to get by just a little bit. No, I think whatever Hezekiah was praying, I don't know what he was praying. He was praying for his soul. But the answer that God turned the ah the prophet Isaiah, God turned him around in the courtyard before he could leave the palace and said, Isaiah, go back in there.
00:17:04
Speaker
And I want you to tell Hezekiah, that I'm going to give him a 15-year extension onto his life. Can you imagine when he told Hezekiah, do you think any tears came down his eyes?
00:17:16
Speaker
Do you think he was so expressive and grateful? I think he was. I think he knew then what he writes for us in verse 8 and 9. If Hezekiah could say another lesson he learned about prayer, he would say this, God answers prayer.
00:17:31
Speaker
God answers prayer. He may not always give you a yes. He may give you a no. He may give you a wait. He may say, not that, but this. But here's what he says for his answer.
00:17:43
Speaker
For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. He's gonna
Trust in God's Character and Service
00:17:54
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live.
00:17:54
Speaker
He's not gonna die. Wouldn't that be an incredible answer? To his prayers? Do you ever just give God a shot at it? Do you ever just talk to God? Or are you like the people who just shut down?
00:18:08
Speaker
No, come on, don't shut down. Open up your hand. Open up your hand and lay the burden down at God's feet. Well, I believe that verse 5, verse 15 and 16 and 17, they kind of tell me some declarations that the king makes about his attitudes.
00:18:29
Speaker
I believe he had certain attitudes toward God. I don't know if he had these attitudes before he knew the answer, but he certainly is taking these attitudes with him after he knows the answer of the 15-year extension to his life. But I think it would be great to go into it.
00:18:46
Speaker
I think that God listens to the way we pray. And when we pray in a way that honors him, let me tell you something, get ready because you have God's full attention. And he's saying, what is it now that you're wanting? And then get ready for his answer to that.
00:19:04
Speaker
Let me tell you one of his attitudes. I believe verse five would tell us that he was saying, you know what I'm gonna do? I don't know what his answer is gonna be, but I'm gonna trust God's character. Listen to what he says in verse five.
00:19:17
Speaker
He says, "'Gracious is the Lord, and righteous, our God is merciful.'" You see, are you willing to say, before you know God's answer, I don't know what he's going to answer, but I know this.
00:19:30
Speaker
I'm talking to somebody who's gracious, merciful, and righteous. Man, that that would get God's attention if you say, Lord, I know that's who you are, and I trust you. But can you save what he says in verse 15?
00:19:44
Speaker
I will testify to God's decision. What if God wouldn't have given him an extension to his life? Well, look at what he writes in verse 15. He got to live, right?
00:19:56
Speaker
But you know what? He only got to live 15 more years. He was 39 years of age. So at 54 years of age, he passed away. He was called into God's presence. But listen to what he wrote in verse 15 about his attitude toward death.
00:20:12
Speaker
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. You see, the people who come close to death And then they don't die.
00:20:23
Speaker
I think they have a new perspective on knowing, you know what? Death is precious in God's eyes. And God also feels that life is precious.
00:20:34
Speaker
That's why. What was he going to do? What was his attitude about his life now? Well, there's no question in my mind that he's his ah his response was, I treasure God's service.
00:20:48
Speaker
How do we know that? Because he wrote it down. Look at what he says in verse 16. I believe that he was so excited to treasure God's service. He says, oh Lord, I'm your servant from here on out.
00:21:02
Speaker
I am your servant, the son of your maidservant. You have loosed my bonds. Do you see where Hezekiah, who could have gotten his identity as the king, the one in charge, the one giving all the orders and commands, he says, you know what?
00:21:18
Speaker
If somebody wants to know who I am, I want to tell them I am the servant of the most high God. I thought, man, isn't that great? But also he testifies in verses eight, nine, something else.
00:21:33
Speaker
He says, ah verse 17, rather, he says, i will be thankful for God's blessings. You see what he says in verse 17, after all the ground that we've covered, he he was experiencing physical pain.
00:21:46
Speaker
He felt this pain is never going to go away. I'm going to die. I'm not going to recover. I'm feeling anxious. I've got anxiety. i'm I'm in anguish. I'm suffering distress about this. All of that.
00:22:00
Speaker
And listen to what he says in verse 17. am. i will offer up to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord. So he's not going to stop talking to God. He's not going to stop praying to God.
00:22:16
Speaker
And one thing he's not going to overlook is an attitude of gratitude. He's like, God, you know what? It was a rough time the last little while. But I want you to know that until the day I die, I will be thankful for what you've given to me. And no matter what my circumstances are, even I have to offer up a sacrifice of thanksgiving, you're worthy of it.
00:22:41
Speaker
And I'm going to offer it up to you. And thank you for all the blessings that you've given to me in my lifetime. Man, I think those are winning attitudes. I encourage you to develop those kind of attitudes in your prayer life, to trust God's character, to testify to God's decision. God, I don't know what your answer is gonna be to this prayer, but here's the thing, I trust you.
00:23:05
Speaker
I know that my life is precious. My death will be precious. I mean something to you, God. And that's why I treasure being called your servant.
Maintaining Gratitude in Tough Times
00:23:14
Speaker
And Lord, I just want you to know that I'm thankful for the further blessings that you've given to me in my life Well, how did he get up from that time? I mean, there he was on the bedside. I don't know how long it took for God to choose to heal him. Maybe when Isaiah the prophet went back in, he told him you're going to get better, and maybe he got better instantly. Sometimes that happened in the Bible, but sometimes it doesn't happen like that, does it?
00:23:40
Speaker
Maybe he was still bedridden for a while longer. I don't know. He had some kind of you know dangerous boil that had come upon his skin. But I can tell you this.
00:23:51
Speaker
He tells us in verse 7, verse 13 and 14, verse 18 and verse 19, and we could even throw in verse 15, He tells us how he was going to advance.
00:24:03
Speaker
How was he advancing after his praying? what was goingnna What was the difference going to be in the way that he was going to live? I think it all relates to salvation.
00:24:14
Speaker
I think it all relates to his deliverance and to his rescue and so forth from what he was facing. Why don't we go back through here and let me end with these things. This is how we should live once we taste the salvation of the Lord. He says in verse 7, for example, return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.
00:24:38
Speaker
I think a peaceful return to salvation to realize, I think some people, they don't surrender to God in salvation because they're afraid he's going to do something bad to them.
00:24:50
Speaker
But I think Hezekiah realizes, nope, my soul is at ease because I'm going to have a peaceful return. I'm going to start walking toward God rather than walking away from God.
00:25:02
Speaker
I'd see a second thing, though. I think he had a personal reception of salvation. You know, he asked himself a very important question. And this Thanksgiving, I want you to answer this question.
00:25:15
Speaker
What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits to me? That's found in verse 12. What would you say? Well, here's what ah Hezekiah said in verse 13, the very next verse.
00:25:28
Speaker
I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. You know, when it comes to salvation, there's nothing we can do. We can't earn God's righteousness. We can't earn the Father's love.
00:25:42
Speaker
No, that's why Jesus died on the cross. He died on the cross because we can't make ourselves acceptable in God's sight. That's why the personal reception is just simply to say, Lord, I'm lifting up my cup.
00:25:57
Speaker
I'm lifting up my soul. I'm lifting up my life. I'm lifting up my my heart. Would you just save me, Lord? And if he saves you, if he rescues you, if he helps you, if he blesses you, then why don't you just tell somebody?
00:26:11
Speaker
That's what I see thirdly in verse 15. In verse he he Verse 16, rather, he says, i will gladly offer ah this ah ah presented submission after salvation. he He wants people to know about it. He said, I'll pay my vows in verse 14 to the Lord in the presence of all his people.
00:26:35
Speaker
So you see what he's saying? He's saying, i want to make a public profession of salvation. I want everybody to know that God has been good to me, that God has saved me. And he's had mercy on me, and he's forgiven me.
00:26:48
Speaker
I will have a prolonged devotion to salvation. Remember earlier when I read verse 15, verse 16, where he says, oh Lord, I'm your servant. I'm your servant. He says it twice.
00:27:01
Speaker
Man, can't can't you see? He said, I want to be devoted to you for the rest of my life. I want to keep talking to you and and praying to you. And so I love that because I think it's so important that we do those kinds of things.
00:27:16
Speaker
So I just encourage you. that if your circumstances are great and you just feel an overflowing sense of gratitude to God, just give him thanks for the good circumstances in which you live. Thank him for those wonderful circumstances and for the situation. Maybe everything's going great in your life. Well, thank him. He's the one who blessed you with all the good things, right?
00:27:43
Speaker
But if it's not going well, if it's been a hard year, you know, maybe you're not like William Bradford of the pilgrims where his wife had passed away just a few months earlier. Maybe your wife is still fine. Maybe your kids are all fine.
00:27:58
Speaker
Well, that's great. But maybe there's something that's really tagging you. And it it really hurts. And so you're not coming to the Lord saying, Lord, I just, I feel so giddy, so excited. I just want to just say thank you.
00:28:13
Speaker
Maybe you're coming and you're saying, Lord, I'm going to come and thank you because you are a good God. And even though the circumstances are really tough right now, I'm gonna thank you because you're good, because you're gracious, because you're faithful, because you're with me. you now You will never leave me nor forsake me. That's who God is. So why not say, God, this year, maybe I'm just gonna have to offer up a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
00:28:39
Speaker
So why don't we go to him together? Let's pray. Lord, I thank you so much for those who are listening today. Lord, don't know what their life is like. Maybe it's been a great year. Maybe they're just emotionally... So into Thanksgiving and they can't wait.
00:28:56
Speaker
That's great. I pray that they would thank you for all those blessings.
Conclusion: Faith and Gratitude Prayer
00:29:00
Speaker
But for those who are having a hard year, maybe it's tough in their physical health, just like with Hezekiah. Maybe relationally, they've lost someone just like William and Bradford.
00:29:11
Speaker
ah Maybe like Jesus, they know something's coming up and it's going to hurt. And so whatever it is, would you help them to say, Lord, by faith, by a decision of my will, I'm going to offer to you today a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
00:29:28
Speaker
Thank you, Lord, for being there when I needed you. In Jesus' name we pray together. Amen. Thank you so much for listening. You have a great Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving.
00:29:52
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.