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THE PLEASURE OF THANKSGIVING Based on Psa. 145By Pastor Glenn PeaseThe legend is told of the servant whose master left him a bag of blessings when hedied. The bag will always be full said the master if you remember the four magicwords. The servant went off so delighted as he partook of the blessings of the bag.But finally he came to the point where the bag was nearly empty. He had taken hisblessings for granted so long he had forgotten the words that would refill it. Heanxiously sought for advice. One said, "maybe the magic words are I wish I had."So he started shouting, " I wish I had, I wish I had as much as all my neighborshave of health and wealth and such." But his bag had no more blessings thanbefore. So he sought for other advice. "Perhaps" said another, "the magic wordsare give me some more." So he tried, "Give me some more, give me some more, Oh,fill my bag of blessings up as full as it was before." But the bag remained empty.He was sad as he sat by the road eating his last piece of bread. A poor waif of achild came up to him and begged for a part of his bread. He forgot his own needand gave the lad his bread. The boy said, "I thank Thee." "That's it" the servantshouted as he leaped to his feet. Those are the magic words. "I thank Thee Lord."And so he recited, "I thank Thee Lord, I thank Thee Lord once more, for all theblessings in my bag, O Lord how great a store." When he looked down the bag wasfull once more.This legend is based on a Biblical principle which says, a grateful heart is the keyto receiving things for which to be grateful. I thank Thee Lord are indeed fourmagic words that filled the bag of life with more and more of God's blessings. Davidknew this, and that is why the praises of God were so perpetually flowing from hispen. His Psalms are-packed with praises,loaded with lauding,thick with thanksgiving,bursting with blessing,exploding with exaltation. The fact that God includes so many of David's Psalms of praise and thanksgivingin His Word tells us that God loves to be thanked and appreciated, just as much aswe do, and probably even more, for He always has good reason to deserve it.Ingratitude wounds his heart as it does ours when our love is taken for granted.Every good and perfect gift comes down with love from the Father above, and,therefore, there should be a thanksgiving flow ever rising from below. David helpsus keep the flow going by means of his Psalms. Psa. 145 is the last one ascribed toDavid. It is his crown jewel of praise. The ancient Hebrews declared it one of thekeys to happiness to read this song of thanksgiving three times a day. Catching thespirit of this song is guaranteed to keep your bag of blessings full. Let's look at thefour pleasures that David deals with in this great hymn of praise.I. THE ETERNAL PLEASURE OF THANKSGIVING. v. 1
 
David emphasizes that he will praise God forever and ever. In verse 13 heacknowledges that God's Kingdom is everlasting. Praises of the king will last aslong as the king, which means, thanksgiving is forever. Not all values of this life areeternal. Faith will become sight, hope will become reality, but love will go on foreternity, and with it will go the grateful heart.There is much we develop in this life that will not survive death, and much thatwill burn up in judgment, as wood hay and stubble. But one thing that will neverdie is the grateful heart. We talk about living with eternity values in view. Here isone way to do it: Develop a heart filled with thanksgiving, for that part of you willlive forever. We go to Rev. 7:12 and we hear this song before the throne of God-"Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be toour God forever and ever." Songs by the thousands come and go, but songs of praise and thanksgiving will always be number one on God's hit parade. When youare into thanksgiving, you are investing in a value that will never lose its worth.Gold and jewels may lose their value when the streets and walls of the heavenly cityare made of them, but thanksgiving will always be precious.We are never finished with thanksgiving. The day of Thanksgiving comes andgoes, like all others, but the grateful heart is to be a perpetual part of our every daylife. All other holidays involve thanksgiving. On Christmas we thank God for Hisgreatest gift-His Son. On Easter we thank God for raising His Son, and therebyopening the door to eternal life for all who trust in Him. On every patriotic holidaywe thank God for His providential guidance in our nation that has led to all ourfreedoms and blessings. Everything that is a celebration calls for thanksgiving.Other values are seasonal, but thanksgiving is perpetual, and is to characterize theChristian life for time and eternity.The healthy heart is a thankful heart. When you begin to take God's grace forgranted, and cease to thank Him for His mercy, you are developing a sickness of thesoul. You are losing the eternal perspective, and letting the negative of time blindyou to that which is yours as a child of God. I have read of a number of soldierswhose lives were saved by another soldier, and they remember this event with anannual gift of thanksgiving. How much more ought we to give thanks to our Saviorwho saved us not just for time, but for eternity.Heartfelt praise and adoration,Savior, thus to Thee we give;For thy life's humiliation,For thy death, whereby we live.All the grief thou wert enduring,All the bliss thou wert securing:Evermore the theme shall beOf thanksgiving, Lord, to Thee. Author unknown We only taste now of the glory that Christ prepares for us in eternity, but even
 
the taste is worthy of praise that never ceases. We can never over do it, and thankGod to much for his grace. Johnston G. Patrick wrote, "To say thank you to God isgood; to know that we shall never be able to thank Him enough is better." "Thoughour mouths were full of song as the sea," runs a memorable passage in the HebrewMorning Service, "and our tongues of exaltation as the multitude of its waves, andour lips of praise as the wide-extended firmament; though our eyes shown with lightlike the sun and the moon, and our hands were spread forth like the eagles of heaven, and our feet were swift as hinds, we should still be unable to thank Theeand to bless Thy name, O Lord our God and God of fathers, for one thousandth orone ten-thousandth part of the bounties which Thou hast bestowed upon our fathersand upon us." If Jews can say that, how much more is it true for those of us whohave God's best in Christ?Chesterton was right when he said, "It is the highest and holiest of the paradoxesthat the man who really knows he cannot pay his debt will be forever paying it."For ever and ever the redeemed will be offering up to God the sacrifice of praise, forthanksgiving is eternal. Secondly we see-II. THE EVERYDAY PLEASURE OF THANKSGIVING v.2This sounds like quite a let down from the eternal, but it is not, it is a direct resultof the eternal. If God has given us that which lasts forever, and for which we willpraise Him forever, we should also be grateful for the lesser gifts that make thisearthly life a more pleasant journey. The everyday and the eternal are linked in thisverse, and they are linked in life because the God we thank is both eternal andeveryday.During the London Blitz the children were all sent into the country to ensure thatthere would be a future generation. One little girl ended her bedtime prayer withthis plea: "And please dear God, take good care of yourself, for if anything happensto you, we are sunk." That was her way of saying what the Bible says, "In Him welive and move and have our being." It is true, without God we are sunk, andtherefore, thanksgiving is for everyday as well as forever. Thank God for GodHimself, and do it daily, and not just for daily bread.Everyday is full of wonders to those attuned to the working of God, but most of us live often on the level of the mundane, and everyday is full of the commonplaceand routine. Happy is that person who can thank God daily for the commonblessings of life. There are so many that we can't even think of them. Let me sharea few that someone with a sense of humor put together. These may stimulate yourmind to an awareness of just how innumerable our blessings are."1. Arn't you thankful that grass doesn't grow up though the snow making wintermowing as well as shoveling a responsibility.2. Arn't you thankful that teenagers will eventually have children who becometeenagers.3. Arn't you thankful that the space for messages on T-shirts and bumpers is
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