Psalm 16 - The Weapon of Gratitude

Bethel Baptist Church

Thanksgiving 2021 • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago • Presented 2 years ago • 35:50

Psalm 16

Thankfulness

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A Christian's most potent weapon in a hostile culture is a life of gratitude

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Introduction

So a couple of weeks ago, (on Veterans’ Day, actually), my boss at work started pulling out all of the office Christmas decorations. Now, that may seem a bit early, but compared (for instance) to the Sykesville Borough office (which put up the tree and decorations in town the day after Halloween), it was a remarkable show of restraint!

Way back in the day, it used to be that the Christmas season was ushered in by the appearance of Santa Claus at the end of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade—remember that? But times have changed, driven in part by the current troubles we live in, when we are being told to do our Christmas shopping now, before the shelves all go bare! But beyond that, it’s been a noticeable shift in our society’s emphasis towards Christmas and away from Thanksgiving.

And of all of the social and economic and retail reasons for that shift, I think there is an important spiritual shift that we have seen in the past twenty years or so. I am convinced that our culture’s shift away from the Thanksgiving holiday reflects a deeper reality of a shift away from honoring God. I say this because of what Paul writes in Romans 1:21:

Romans 1:21 (ESV)

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

Notice that Paul says that there are two things that the unbeliever wants to suppress—honoring God, and thankfulness to God. And so I want to argue based on this Scripture that when a people abandon honoring God, one of the signs of that abandonment is the disappearance of thankfulness. Put another way, a thankless spirit is a Godless spirit. And the disappearance of a holiday meant to thank God is a sign of a people whose honor of God has disappeared.

And so, Christian, that means that if the world around you has abandoned honoring and thanking God, you are to make it your aim to cultivate honoring and thanking God in your life and in the life of our church! The unbelieving culture around you is desperately trying to suppress the truth of God’s righteousness (Romans 1:18)—one author described it as saying that God and His righteousness is like an overinflated beach ball that unbelievers are desperately trying to hold underwater. And so your job is live in such a way as to keep bringing up the topic of honoring and thanking God by your behavior, “gently poking their quivering arms”… (Doug Wilson, Blog and Mablog, https://dougwils.com/the-church/thanksgiving-2007-and-the-new-atheism.html. Accessed 11/11/2021). What I hope to help you understand here this morning from the Scriptures is that

A life of GOD-HONORING gratitude is one of the Christian’s most POTENT WEAPONS

This Thursday, recognize what you are doing when you gather at that Thanksgiving table—you are not just gathering for a good meal and a football game—the gratitude and thanksgiving to God that you express around that table is a weapon with

2 Corinthians 10:4–5 (ESV)

4 ...divine power to destroy strongholds. 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

Last week we saw how to develop and cultivate a spirit of gratitude—this week I want us to look at how to deploy our God-honoring gratitude as a bulwark against the tides of thanklessness and godlessness that prevail in our culture. And one of the most beautiful expressions of God-honoring gratitude comes from one of David’s songs, Psalm 16. Let’s walk through this song of God-honoring gratitude together this morning.

The first way that your God-honoring gratitude is a potent weapon in the culture wars you face is that your gratitude

I. Declares your DEPENDENCE on GOD (Psalm 16:1-4)

Look at the first two verses of the psalm, right away you see it:

Psalm 16:1–2 (ESV)

1 Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”

When you sing to God along with David, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you”—you are making a sweeping claim about yourself, aren’t you? To say “I have no good apart from God” is a statement of total dependence on God, isn’t it? And making that statement

Attacks the CULT of the SELF (vv. 1-2)

that we live in today, doesn’t it? To say that you have nothing worthwhile or good or praiseworthy in your life, that there is nothing good about you apart from what God has given you, is an insult to the self-worshipping age that you live in. To say, “I am so thankful to God for all of the good in my life—I don’t have anything good in my life or in my heart that He hasn’t given me!” is a direct attack on an age that wants to ignore God and deny that He has anything to do with my life one way or another.

Not only so, but declaring your dependence on God

Refutes the DENIAL of God’s EXISTENCE (v. 4)

Look at verse 4:

Psalm 16:4 (ESV)

4 The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names on my lips.

David says here that there is no other God for him to worship—he won’t participate in their bloody sacrifices, he won’t take the name of Baal or Molech or Chemosh on his lips. Now, the application to our own times may not be readily apparent—we are not living in a culture that has set up the worship of Baal against the worship of YHWH, but that doesn’t mean the choice is between worshipping God and not worshipping. God has created mankind for worship—just like a Husky dog was created to run. You can’t keep a Husky in a 500-square foot Manhattan apartment and expect that since he has nowhere to run, he’ll just give up running altogether, right? In the same way, man was created to worship, and when he refuses to acknowledge God or worship Him, the alternative isn’t simply to stop worshipping; it’s to find something else to worship! Those who refuse to acknowledge God or give Him thanks have not ceased to worship; they have simply redirected that attitude of worship and faith to something (or someone) else.

But when you live and speak and exist in an attitude of God-honoring gratitude for all the good in your life, you are presenting them with a direct challenge to their self-worshipping assumption that they are the most important being in the universe. When you are thankful to God for giving you so many good gifts, you are implicitly acknowledging His existence, aren’t you?

We might call this the argument for God’s existence from His generosity— “If God doesn’t exist, why does He keep giving me so much stuff? If there is no God, then who do I thank for the fact that I got out of bed this morning? Who do I go to to say “thank you” for giving me taste buds so that I can taste the turkey and gravy this week? If there is no God, who do I send the Thank You note to for the smell of fresh-cut grass on the lawn? What about the fact that I have fingernails to help me pick up dimes—who do I thank for that if not God? Picking a tomato out of your garden that came from nothing but a seed, dirt, water and sunlight? Or the sound of a great bluegrass lick? Venison sausage? A kitten attacking its own tail? A blazing bonfire and s’mores? Laughing so hard that you get dizzy? The way the Milky Way stretches across the sky on a summer night? Baby giggles? Singing hymns a capella? Thunderstorms? Seeing a trout rise to your Adams fly? The way a really good sneeze feels—somebody needs to be thanked for all that and more, so God just has to exist!

God-honoring gratitude is one of the most potent weapons you have in these culture wars, Christian—your total dependence on God for all the good in your life attacks the cult of the self and refutes the denial of God’s existence. And as we move through Psalm 16 further, we see that your God-honoring gratitude is a potent weapon because it

II. Declares your DELIGHT in God’s BLESSINGS (Psalm 16:5-6)

Look here at verses 5-6:

Psalm 16:5–6 (ESV)

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

David says that the LORD “holds his lot”, that He is David’s “chosen portion”. Declaring your delight in God’s blessings means that you

Delight in God as the SOURCE of your GIFTS (v. 5)

God-honoring gratitude not only acknowledges God as the source of all our good, but delights in Him as the One who gives all these good things to you. Delighting in God as the source of your gifts means, among other things, that you are content with the blessings He has given you; that you trust that what comes from His hand to you is for your good and His glory. Every week here in our worship service, for example, we set apart the portion of our time dedicated to hearing God’s Word declared in the sermon by singing the Doxology: “Praise God from whom all blessings flow...” The blessings that flow to you from hearing the Scriptures opened and declared to you come from God’s hand, and it is right and fitting for us to express our delight in Him as the Source of that blessing—as well as all the good gifts that He provides for you.

God-honoring gratitude delights in God as the source of your gifts, and it also draws you to

Delight in the PRIVILEGES God has GIVEN you (v. 6; cp. Romans 1:29)

Look at verse 6:

Psalm 16:6 (ESV)

6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.

Here is, I believe, one of the central attacks that our culture levels against Christians today. A people who will not honor God are an ungrateful people. And the Apostle Paul describes the characteristics of such a people in Romans 1:28-29,

Romans 1:28–29 (ESV)

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,

So I see from the Scriptures here that a people who refuse to acknowledge God or thank Him are a people who are—among other sins—a people who are full of envy. When we come to understand this from God’s Word, all of the insanity around us starts to make sense, doesn’t it? Where the Scriptures teach us to be repent of our sins and celebrate our blessings, an ungodly and ungrateful people insist that we must repent of our blessings and celebrate sin.

This is exactly what is going on with our people’s current obsession with “woke” politics, Critical Race Theory, “white privilege”, and so forth—it all springs from the envy that grows out of an ungrateful and God-denying heart. But the Word of God stands in direct conflict with that envious malice and contentiousness—Christian, you must never be ashamed of the blessings that have come from the hand of God, your portion! This Thursday the world around you wants you to apologize for the good gifts that God has given you—and your response should be something along the lines of “Let me think about it, no.”

Godly gratitude delights in the lines God had laid out for your beautiful inheritance! The blessings that the world around you insists have come from your sinful participation in their made-up categories of “white power” and “systemic racism” and “cisgender heteronormative exclusionist family structures” and all the rest are the result of God laying out beautiful and pleasant boundaries for your life! And so lean into all of it on Thursday—thank God, boldly and joyfully and insistently for all of your privilege, because He is the one who gave it to you! (And if you ever have someone tell you that you need to “check your privilege”, thank them profusely and say, “You’re right—I haven’t thanked God enough for all of my privileges!”)

You see, what you are going to do this Thursday as you celebrate your God-honoring gratitude is a mighty weapon in your hand to tear down the strongholds and “destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God as you take every thought captive to obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). Your Thanksgiving table and your celebration of your God-honoring gratitude declares your dependence on God, declares your delight in your privileges and it

III. Declares your DISCIPLESHIP in SUFFERING (Psalm 16:7-11)

We said last week that as you progress in the curriculum of gratitude that your graduate level training comes when you are able to be grateful for the afflictions God has given you. And here in Psalm 16 we see this kind of God-honoring gratitude in verses 7-8:

Psalm 16:7–8 (ESV)

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.

Your God-honoring gratitude to God—even in the midst of heartbreak, loss and afflictions shows the world that

You will not be SHAKEN (vv. 7-8)

When you are lying awake at night because of the trials and anxieties of your situation, you can “bless the LORD”—praise and thank Him in gratitude—that He “gives you counsel”. That He speaks to you in your afflictions, He is present with you in your sufferings.

The world around us simply cannot process the thought of being grateful in the midst of suffering—if anything, trials and pain and sickness and afflictions are signs of God’s non-existence, or indifference, or even cruelty. But when you declare your discipleship in the midst of your suffering—when you are able to thank God for your pain and heartbreak and loneliness and loss—you are doing something that is inexplicable apart from acknowledging (and rejoicing in!) the existence of God. And because He is at your right hand, because you always keep Him first before you, you will not be shaken!

Christian, you can wield the weapon of God-honoring gratitude in this ungrateful, godless world because you are convinced that even in your suffering you can never be shaken—even if your Thanksgiving table is missing someone you love, even if you don’t have children or grandchildren or a spouse to celebrate with, you can rejoice in your circumstances because you have the presence of Christ with you, and that means that

You will never be ABANDONED (vv. 9-11)

Psalm 16:9–11 (ESV)

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. 11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

No matter how dark your path grows, no matter how much the world leans on you to “repent” for the blessings God has given you, no matter how fierce the opposition from envious and malicious suppressors of God’s righteousness, you have the assurance of knowing that you will never be abandoned to that darkness, you will never be left defenseless against those enemies—that even the sadness or depression or anxiety or grief that assails you will never consume you! You can dwell secure knowing that you have an unbreakable promise from your Risen and Reigning Savior: “I will never leave you nor forsake you!” (Heb13:5)

You can live a life of God-honoring gratitude even in the midst of your suffering—you can live a life of God-honoring gratitude for your suffering—because you have a Savior who suffered under the wrath of God so that you never will! After Jesus’ glorious bodily resurrection from the dead, when He had ascended into Heaven and received eternal authority over all the nations from His Father’s right hand, the Apostle Peter preached a sermon in Jerusalem on the day when the Holy Spirit gave birth to the church. And as Peter spoke about the authority of the Risen Christ, he quoted from Psalm 16 to prove that Jesus was the Risen Son of God:

Acts 2:24–28 (ESV)

24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

And this is the greatest reason of all that God-honoring gratitude is one of the most potent weapons of the Christian—because Jesus Christ purchased your deliverance from the wrath of God over your sin, conquering death and corruption by His physical resurrection from the dead, and now living and reigning over all of the nations, tribes tongues and peoples of the earth, you have infinite cause for thankfulness and gratitude this Thursday (and every day)—gratitude for the Gospel message of Jesus Christ!

Years ago—back when he used to be funny—David Letterman did a Thanksgiving network promo for his show with the line, “From all of us at the Late Show, best wishes for your tense family gathering!” And it’s true—many of you will have dinner on Thursday with family members who may differ—strongly—with your convictions as a Christian. And so often we feel as though we need to have some airtight apologetic arguments about God’s existence or the problem of evil or the sanctity of life or the fact that the Bible says the world is 6,000 years old.

And there may be times when those arguments might need to come into play—but here is the way God’s Word is instructing you to face that “tense family gathering” this week: Be grateful to God for everything! No matter what comes up, no matter what it is, point again to the God who has given you all the good things in your life, the God who has laid the lines for you in pleasant places, the God who has given you not just beautiful things but has given you a place among His excellent ones, His saints that He has washed with His blood, the God who even turns your grief and pain and loss and darkness into light by His abiding presence, the God who has promised you fulness of joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand! The soul that refuses to honor God or give thanks to Him simply has no answer for God-honoring gratitude that delights to thank God for everything—so testify to your dependence on Him, your delight in all that comes from His hand, and may your glad-hearted thanksgiving be the weapon that tears down opposition to the Gospel in the heart of friends and family members who need to be shown “the path of life” in Jesus Christ!

BENEDICTION:

1 Thessalonians 5:23–24, 28 (ESV)

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it....28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:

In Romans 1:21, Paul identifies two things that sinners refuse to do: “For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him. How do you see these two attitudes—refusing to honor God and ingratitude—affecting our society today? Why does this make a life of God-honoring gratitude such an important thing for a Christian to cultivate?

How does gratitude to God for all good things in your life run against the current of our culture’s attitude of “self-worship”? What are some evidences in your life that God is the source of all the blessings you have received?

We observed that the Scriptures direct us to celebrate our blessings and repent of our sin, while we live in a culture that demands that we repent of our blessings and celebrate sin. How does Psalm 16:5-6 teach you to respond to the blessings God has given you? How is God honored when you refuse to apologize for the blessings (“privileges”) He has given you?

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