So take your bulletin and turn to the Scripture passage for today, which is from Psalm 9. Now, I didn't have room to put the whole Psalm in, but we'll read verses 1 and 2, and then 11 through 20. And the theme today, particularly, is Thanksgiving. So here then, God's holy word, Psalm 9. I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart. I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and exult in you. I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Verse 11. Sing praises to the Lord who dwells in Zion. Declare among the peoples his deeds. For he who requires blood remembers them. He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. Be gracious to me, O Lord. See my affliction from those who hate me. You who lift me up from the gates of death, that I may tell of all your praises, that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in your salvation. The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made, in the net which they hid. Their own foot has been caught. The Lord has made Himself known. He has executed judgment. In the work of His own hands, the wicked is snared. The wicked will return to shale, even all the nations who forget God. For the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted perish forever. Arise, O Lord. Do not let man prevail. Let the nations be judged before you. Put them in fear, O Lord. Let the nations know that they are but men." Thus far, God's holy, inspired, and infallible Word. Thanks be to God. Well, providentially, in our going through the psalms, these early psalms, we come today to Psalm 9. And it starts out, of course, I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart. Now, a lot of the psalm is about how David has been delivered from his enemies, and he is asking God for justice and for his help. And so you can take the psalm and make it something other than just the psalm about Thanksgiving. But our emphasis today is on the Thanksgiving part of it. It is, as I indicated, a psalm of David, who was a sinner. but also he was a man after God's own heart, the Bible says. That's because he fled to God for forgiveness and for his strength and help. So I'm going to touch on three things today. I'm going to look at some underlying elements of thanksgiving, which we can see in the psalm, and then some items for which David and all of us can be thankful. And then I'll close with some nonsensical behavior when it comes to Thanksgiving. And by that I mean some things that really don't fit with Thanksgiving at all and yet People kind of employ them in the Thanksgiving season without really realizing what they're doing. So those are the three things that I want to cover today. Some underlying elements of Thanksgiving. The first one has to do with heartfelt thanks, or as the first verse says, I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart. heartfelt thanks. And that simply means that underlying thanksgiving is something that comes from the heart. It's not just, well, it's that time of year, the calendar says Thanksgiving, and so I will say something that I'm thankful for. Now, there's nothing wrong with saying things that you're thankful for, but it doesn't come from your heart. One of the underlying elements of real thanksgiving is that it comes from deep within you. It comes because you have a conviction about the Lord and His goodness, and you recognize what the Lord has done. It's heartfelt thanks. So as you have reason to be thankful this week, Ask yourself, is this coming really from my heart? Does it come from that inner confidence that I have in what God has done? Heartfelt thanks. And I would say that verses 1 and 2 really cover that pretty well. Give thanks with all my heart. Tell of your wonders. Be glad and exult in you. Sing praise to your name. O Most High." Those verses just seem to be filled with something from David that's very deeply felt. And may God grant us to have that heartfelt thanks also. Then there is what we might call joyful thanks. In verse 2, David says, I will be glad, I will exult in you. There's a joyful word in that. Down to verse 14, he says at the end of verse 14, I may rejoice in your salvation. Again, rejoicing, the joyful things. Some of the Thanksgiving things that go on, they're just so very routine. People don't seem to have much joy in what they're doing. Well, flowing right out of the heart that we just mentioned is the joy of the Lord. And of course, the Lord Jesus Christ says, I've come that you may have the fullness of joy in your life, that you'll be truly happy. So that when we say to people, Happy Thanksgiving, we should really mean that. May it be a joyful experience for you to give thanks, of course, on the day, but any time. To be joyfully thankful. That it kind of bubbles up. That it can't be restrained. So the second thing that's an underlying element is joy. A joyful Thanksgiving. And then enthusiastic thanks. I think this is where music often comes into the picture as well. That when we sing with a lot of strength and pour ourselves into it, it's because we're enthusiastic about the Lord Himself. And we want to express that. We want to sing to Him. Praises are directed to Him. And we are enthusiastic and not just sort of indifferent or doing it out of a sense of necessity or a cultural pressure about doing it, but we're enthusiastic. We give thanks. And again, in our singing, I think that's a very important part of that. Then there is an underlying element that I've called appreciative thanks. If you look at verse 13, the last part of it, he says, you will lift me up. from the gates of death. This whole idea of being nearly destroyed, nearly in tremendous distress, but the Lord has delivered you, and ultimately, of course, God has delivered us from eternal punishment, from the wrath of God. And in giving thanks, we show an appreciation, not just in a general sense, but in the sense of what God has done for me. There's a song we used to sing in Sunday school. Let me tell you what the Lord has done for me. That's appreciative thanks. As you give thanks this week, you have that real appreciation of the great cost to the Lord for giving you salvation. He had to give His only begotten Son so that those who believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. Are you appreciative from that starting point and then for everything else that the Lord does provide for you? Something that goes clearly right along with that is what I've called relieved thanks. That is, you feel relief that things are not what they might have been, because of God's love for you. In verse 15, it talks about the fact that David's enemies had laid traps for him. Now, he may have just been using imagery here, but the idea was that they were trying to entrap him, catch him in his words, have something to accuse him about, But it didn't work. They fell into the pit themselves that they had dug. They got themselves caught in the trap. And thus, there's relief. David says, they sought to destroy me, but my enemies have failed. And we have an enemy. Now, we may have earthly enemies too, but this is a spiritual enemy. We have Satan. We have the devil who would like to knock us down, bring us down, and yet, we have been delivered out of His hand. And we can feel relief in that. And maybe somebody has helped you in some way, and you felt relief that they came and warned you or gave you advice, and you just say, oh, thank you, thank you so much for not letting me do this or for turning me in a certain direction. Relieved thanks. The danger is past. and it's not likely to return. That's the kind of relief that is expressed that underlies real thanksgiving. Do you feel that relief this week? I hope you do. I hope you feel relieved that whereas you might have had great trouble, the Lord delivered you. Then there's humble thanks. Sometimes people approach God, if they even believe Him at all, And they say, well, I'm such a good boy, I'm such a good girl that God did this for me, and I'm thankful. But really, it's what should have happened because I'm so good, or I have so much merit in my life. But that's not humble thanks. Thanksgiving should have humility. Lord, I don't deserve all the goodness that You've provided, but You did. that God should stoop to me, a sinner, as He has done. Oh, I'm so thankful for that. That's the humble thanks. The publican who cried out to God was over against the Pharisee who was very proud and lifted up. He said, Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. Even in that confession, you see, there's a note of thanksgiving. Lord, I come to You because You do forgive sinners, big sinners. You forgive us all kinds of terrible things that we do in our lives, and I humbly bow before You. And then the last of these underlying elements that we find here, reverent thanks. That is, we come before the Lord in a sense of worship. Thanksgiving should be worshipful. In the second verse, the last part, it says, I will sing praise to your name, O Most High. Those are worshipful words. Again, in the 20th verse, he talks about enemies being put in fear, but the whole concept there is that we all should fear the Lord. We should come before Him not as people deathly afraid, but people who reverently approach the Lord. Thanksgiving involves reverence and worship. And it's not really Thanksgiving if there's not that element of worship. in our approach to God. So these are a number of things that are underlying elements in thanksgiving. I'll just run over them quickly. Heartfelt thanks. Joyful thanks. Enthusiastic thanks. Appreciative thanks. Relieved thanks. Humble thanks. Reverent thanks. Just ask yourself today and in the days ahead, do these elements that underlie thanksgiving have a place in my life? Are they really part of the way that I approach God? Or am I thankful at all? Well, if we are, then certainly we should make sure that these things are part of the way we come to God. Now some specific things. for which we might give thanks. Now, we could name hundreds of things, obviously. Each of us have our own list. And we can even be, you know, general and say, I'm thankful for freedom. I'm thankful for prosperity and food to eat and a bed to sleep in and all these things. And taking nothing away from that, we should have all that in our list. Absolutely. But these are some items that the psalm puts forth, that David puts forth, and all of us can be thankful for them. Now, in verses 1 and 2, and again in 11, he talks about the deeds of the Lord, the things that the Lord has done. He says, I will tell of your wonders. He says, I will tell before the people all your deeds. In there, verse 11. we can specifically give thanks for the wonders of God. So that maybe you haven't, say, gone to some beautiful spot of the earth, the Grand Canyon or some national forest. Most of us have been there. And if we haven't actually been there, we've seen pictures and so forth. We've seen the great things that God has done in nature. We see the things that God has done in history. There have been tyrants and terrible rulers, but God has taken them out of the way and replaced them. We could just name any number of the deeds of the Lord, but especially the deeds that we find in the Bible. The deeds that are in the Scriptures are for us to know and appreciate too and tell us how great God is. So, what should we be thankful for? God's deeds. God's wonderful deeds. And then we can be thankful for an authoritative God. Some people have the idea that God is someone who kind of lines up the world like a clock and then he goes off and does other things. But we have a God who's a hands-on God. He's an authoritative God. And He calls people to account. He works in the hearts and lives of men and nations. He's a great God. And we can say of Him that this God can demand, rightfully demand anything of anybody. Now, some people would want to be rebellious against that. I don't want a God who demands of me anything. I don't want to be a God who asks me to do things that I don't want to do. But this God knows what's best. Again, He's a hands-on God. He's an authoritative God. And we need to say, God, thank You that You're in control. Now, I can't explain why everything happens, why God lets some things happen and doesn't let other things, but I do know that whatever He does, He does for His own glory and He does for the good of His people. And one of the things we should be thankful for is the authority of God. Again, in verse 12, for He requires blood, meaning He requires punishment, He requires people to account and so forth, but He's a God who requires. That's the idea here. God is at work in the world. Another thing is God's unfailing memory. Verse 12, He says He does not forget the cry of the afflicted. Verse 18, For the needy will not always be forgotten." Why not? Because God has this wonderful, unfailing memory, and that keeps Him on our cases. Now again, some people say, I don't want God on my case. But when we have needs, when we face the various things of life, God remembers us. God remembers the matters of our lives that need His attention. He's on our case. And we can be thankful for that particularly. Then, the grace of God. Well, this has to do with salvation. and certainly the psalmist mentions it here in verses 13 and 14, that I may tell all of your praises and that in the gates of the daughter of Zion I may rejoice in what? Rejoice in your salvation. Rejoice in your salvation. God is a God who saves, and He saves by grace. Again, no merits of ours, nothing that we can bring to impress Him, but He chooses to save sinners. And we thank God for His grace. We thank Him that He saves, yes, from trials and difficulties, but we thank Him most of all that He saves us from death and from damnation. He's a God of salvation. Give thanks for the grace of God. He is a God of healing from every affliction. There in verse 13, He talks about coming up against the gates of death. And yes, from David's point of view, that could be the enemies that would like to kill him. But you read other Psalms and you know that David says, there were times when I just felt whatever disease I had, whatever affliction I had, it was going to take my life. But he said, you've delivered me from that. You've delivered me from the gates of death. And I think we can thank God for His healing and strengthening us. And then there's God's revelation of Himself and His revelation of all that we need to know. Look at verse 16. It says, "...the Lord has made Himself known." He's not a God who has hidden Himself. And He's not a God who just lets a few little ideas creep into our minds and hearts. But He's revealed Himself expansively, not exhaustively, but expansively in so many ways. He's given us the Bible. And He's given us the Holy Spirit. And with the two of these things, we can know more and more about God. God's revealed Himself so that we may know God. And thus, knowing Him, we may have fellowship with Him. We may enjoy Him. And that He may enjoy us as well. God has made Himself known. God's compassion is another thing for which we should give thanks. He says in verse 18 that He won't forget whom? The needy. He won't forget those who have struggles, but He's a compassionate God. He doesn't say, well, you're getting what you deserve. Compassionate God. And whatever our needs are, and we can count these things through our lives, things that have happened, so forth, well, we can say, you know, God's been very compassionate to me. He's been merciful to me. I could be in such worse condition, but God has shown compassion." Then there's God's justice. David says, these people that are against me, they don't do the right things. They're underhanded. They're deceptive. They're evil. They're people who want to take what's not theirs. They're murderers. He says, God, I would hope for your justice. Now again, remember the justice of God is somewhat counteracted by the giving of His Son, but it's not taken away. The justice is all put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and He pays the penalty for sin. But if we need justice personally, God is there to give it. And God's justice will ultimately prevail in the world. Sometimes when we see the news or read the papers and things, we think there's no justice in the world. This person got away with his hit and run. This person got away with killing somebody. This dictator gets away with all the bad things that he does. But God says, My justice ultimately will prevail. You just have to wait on Me to do that. But where you're concerned, God will see two things. He will see that justice is done so that you don't perish, and He does that in Christ. And then if you need things settled in a just way in society, then God again, this hands-on God that we've talked about, He'll see that things work out for your benefit ultimately. So give thanks for God's justice, okay? But be thankful that that justice with regard to you has been put on Christ, and your sins are paid for. Then there's God's certain victory over all of His and our enemies. God is a victorious God. He doesn't settle for an armistice. He doesn't settle for just making peace and that's it. But He wins. God's a God of victory. And these last verses of the passage, O Lord, arise, do not let man prevail. Let the nations be judged. In other words, God's going to have the last word. God is victorious. Now the great victory we see in Christ on the cross, He did conquer sin and death. He did conquer on our behalf there. But in the very end of things, when everything is to be dealt with, God says, I will prevail. My ways, my justice, my righteousness, my world will be the world that is the last to be. And so, we look forward to this certain victory that we can be sure that even now that victory is ours. And then lastly, God's transcendence. If you look at verse 20, it says, let the nations know that they are but men. That means that God is not a man. Scripture says that specifically. It says God is not a man that He should repent. God is a different kind of being than we are. He's transcendent God. And we can be thankful that He's not just like one of us. And that's just where the Greeks and the Romans got things kind of mixed up in their imaginations. Well, their gods committed adultery. Their gods were murderous. Their gods were selfish. All these things. But God says, I'm not like that. I'm not like you. I'm me and I'm different. But I can draw you closer to me and make you to live more like me by my grace and mercies. But He's a transcendent God. So we can give thanks that He's not just like us. But we can also give thanks that even though He's not just like us, He sent His Son into the world to be like us without sin, to show us what humanity really can be like. So many of these things to be thankful for. God's wondrous deeds, His authority, His unfailing memory, His grace, His healing, His revelation of Himself, His compassion, His justice, His certain victory, His transcendence. So I've given you quite a list there. When the time comes for you to give thanks. Here's some specifics for you. Now, one last thing as we close, and that is some of the nonsensical behavior when it comes to thanksgiving. First of all, there's undeclared thanks. Go back to that first verse again. What does the psalmist say? I will give thanks. But those who don't want that will say, I will not give thanks. And that's really nonsensical. If God made the world, if God is the God of wonders and all of these other characteristics that we've talked about, then we should give thanks. It's nonsensical. It's irrational. It makes no sense when there's such a great God for us to say, I will not give thanks. But there are plenty of people in the world like that. There's what we might call the forgotten duty to give thanks. Psalm 150, we read, let everything that has breath praise the Lord. We have a duty to thank God, but oftentimes we make up our own duties and our other things and we say, well, I'm too busy to give thanks to God. I have other interests. Don't forget this is a duty that we have. It's nonsensical for us to say there are more important things for us to do. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Then there's selfish thanksgiving. And that is to praise the works of your own hands. Look at verse 16. It says, "...in the work of His own hands the wicked is snared." People want to give thanks for what? For what they've done. They can look at a big skyscraper and say, look what I've done. Or bring it down to just ordinary life. You can say, well, I have a job and I have accomplished this and so forth. But God says, no, you should thank Me that you even have the ability, that you have hands, that you have a mind that can engineer things and build buildings. Selfish thanksgiving is nonsensical. that you could do nothing without the Lord. Don't thank yourself. When the television people stick a microphone and say, what are you thankful for? A lot of people really are saying, I'm just thankful for all that I've done. There might be also what we might call misplaced thanks. And so we have our government, and the government hands out all kinds of goodies to people. And a lot of people are thankful for the government. for the welfare, for the handouts, for all these things. Or you may even be thankful for some things that have been done by your neighbors. You know, my neighbor came over and he mowed my grass or something. Well, it's not wrong to thank people who do things for you, but remember, that if you leave God out of the equation, then you've misplaced your thanks. Your thanks go to God, and then you can thank Him for good neighbors, and you can thank Him for skyscrapers, and you can thank Him for all these other things, but don't misplace your thanks. And then finally, there's what we might call anonymous thanks. And all that means is we're just kind of happy that things have worked out. But there's no context for that. We just are glad things are the way they are. But how does the psalm start off? It says, I will be glad and exult in you. In you. I will give thanks to the Lord. There's no anonymous thanks to be given out. You need to say, Lord, it's you. I give thanks to you. You're the Most High. So don't be anonymous in your thanks. Be specific with regard to Him. Otherwise, it's all nonsensical. If it's undeclared or forgotten or selfish or misplaced, anonymous, it's nonsensical. What makes sense is to go to the God who made you and made all things and who preserves you and gives you salvation and thank Him. And that's what you and I all need to do this Thanksgiving. So let's pray. Oh Lord, please make us thankful, but make us thankful in the right ways. Help us to have these true underlying elements in our lives so that our thanks comes from the heart and in the right way. And then Lord, help us to give thanks for those items that are truly important. And Lord, deliver us from being wrong in our thanks by approaching them in this nonsensical way. We do look to You, Lord, for Your help in thanksgiving this year. In Jesus' name, Amen.