Then if you'll turn in your Bible to Psalm 145. Notice both in the readings of the Psalms, but also in the songs that we've sung, there is this continued encouragement to praise the Lord. And that's because if we're honest with ourselves, we need to be reminded of our responsibility to praise the Lord. We need to be reminded of the reasons for why we should thank the Lord. And we also just simply need to be stirred up in our very soul to engage in this most holy, wonderful opportunity of acknowledging the goodness of the Lord and praising him and thanking him for his goodness. And so we'll also be doing that by the reading of Psalm 145. It's entitled A Song of Praise of David, and it reads as follows. I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. "'Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, "'and his greatness is unsearchable. "'One generation shall commend your works to another, "'and shall declare your mighty acts. "'On the glorious splendor of your majesty, "'and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. "'They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, "'and I will declare your greatness. "'They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness, "'and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your work shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works. The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him. He also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. And I want to especially focus our attention this morning on verses 14 through 16. The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, you satisfy the desire of every living thing. A congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have the opportunity to enjoy a national day of thanksgiving. And the Christian church in the United States of America has had this opportunity for countless years. But with any tradition, there is always the danger that it becomes a mere tradition. With any tradition, there's always the danger that you lose something of the acknowledgement of the significance of the event. You begin to perhaps take a practice or an occasion for granted. And one of the best ways to remedy that or to prevent that is to continually remind yourself or ourselves of the very nature of the event or the very nature of the occasion. And that's why it's good and that's why it's proper, although this is not the Lord's Day, that's why it's good and proper for us as a congregation to publicly gather ourselves together for this purpose, to be reminded of the wonderful opportunity and the solemn responsibility that we as God's people have to acknowledge His goodness and to respond appropriately by expressing our thanksgiving. Perhaps to be more concise, we gather together this morning to be reminded that it is our duty to give thanks to our God for his goodness and for his provision. And I want to do so by using the words of our text and considering them together this morning in the time allotted to us with this theme, thankfulness for providence. And by providence, we mean the almighty and ever-present power of God. Providence is that power of God. that is infinite, without any limitation, and that is evident everywhere, whereby He, as with His own hand, upholds all things, giving them their form and their function. Psalm 104 described God upholding all things. And not only does God uphold all things with His providential power, He also governs all things, leading them, guiding them, so that they accomplish His purposes. So we have thankfulness for providence. We'll notice this morning that this is a covenantal providence in our first point, and then in our second point, it is a comprehensive providence, and then in our third point, it is a condescending providence. So we are encouraged to express thankfulness to God for his providence by recognizing, by knowing that it is a covenantal providence, a comprehensive providence, and a condescending providence. So first of all, consider with me this morning that we have reason to be thankful to God for his covenantal providence. A right spirit of thankfulness, a proper expression of true gratitude. must and will flow out of a sound theology, a biblical theology, a right knowledge of God. We can say it this way, if we know God rightly, as He truly is, as He has revealed Himself, especially in Scripture, but also, of course, in the realm of nature as we understand that through the testimony of Scripture, if we know God rightly, We then will acknowledge him with thankfulness and with gratitude. And when we think of the covenant of the Lord, we think first and foremost of his sovereignty. Of the fact, the truth, the reality that our God, the one true God, the triune God, is God over all. That he is sovereign, that he has all power, that he has all authority. And if you look at the words of our text in verse 14, you'll notice it says the Lord. And that's a note that flows all throughout scripture, of course, including the Psalms. If you glance up at verse eight, the Lord is gracious and merciful. And if you look very carefully, Lord is in all capitalized letters. And that's a translation technique to describe the reality that this is the covenantal name of God. This is Yahweh. This is God as he has come to us and established this unique relationship of a covenant where he has said, I will be your God and you will be my people. And we will have a restored relationship of harmony and of fellowship. And I will provide for you. I will lead you. I will care for you. And flowing out of that, there is the acknowledgement of his grace and of his mercy, of his power, of his faithfulness. And I would encourage you when you see all of Scripture, of course, but when you see that name Lord, hold fast to that reality by faith that this is the covenantal, this is the covenantal God in his wonderful sovereignty who is majestic in glory and who has everlasting dominion. Far too often, and this is not an insight original with me, this has been noted by many, far too often we lose sight of the greatness of our God. And what happens is when we lose sight of the greatness of our God, then the difficulties in life become greater than they really are. Then we become fixated on the circumstances in life that seem to be so overwhelming. And so the psalmist comes and he reminds us of the reality of the majesty of our God, that our God is great beyond even our full comprehension. And this wonderful truth, if you go back to verse one, that this sovereign covenantal Lord is my God. The psalmist often speaks in corporate language with the plural our, but here he becomes very personal. I will extol you, my God and king. And this is the exercise of faith in the covenantal Lord through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I pray and I hope and I trust that you are able by the work of the Holy Spirit, producing the sincere faith, trust, reliance to also say with the psalmist, my God, my God, sovereign, covenantal and faithful. Lord translates this wonderful title Yahweh, which emphasizes the faithfulness of God, that God is who God is and he will always be who he is. What theologians call the immutability of God, the fact that he is unchangeable in his person, in his plans, in his promises. You know, when you live life, you see much that changes. Even practically speaking, you had the opportunity over the last 48 hours or so to see change in the weather. Whereas a few days ago, you could see, well, I suppose the browning landscape of the fall, but you could see the grass, you could see the fields. Now, a white blanket covers it all and you're confronted with the reality that that things change, the temperatures change. And not only do things change in the weather and in the temperature, but also within our own persons, don't we see change? As the hymn says, change and decay and all that I see. And sometimes the reality of that constant change can be somewhat unsettling. Because we might think to ourselves, what will the next change bring? What will the next season in my life bring? And one thing I've learned as a pastor over the years is we don't always know the answer to that question. We don't always know what is next as things change. And so I've often found myself telling people who are wondering what's next, I found myself telling them, I don't know. And you don't know. But we know the one who does know. Almighty God. Almighty God. And because he knows what is next. And because he is, for the sake of Jesus Christ, our God, our Lord, we are able to say, I thank you. I thank you for that which I have received. And I thank you that you know what is next. And so I would encourage you this day and in all seasons of life to express thankfulness to God for his covenantal providence. That is not only covenantal, but also in our second point of consideration is comprehensive. God's providence is not limited to various realms or spheres within this life or within this world, but God's providence is comprehensive over all of creation. And this is grammatically indicated in our text with the use of the word all. Verse 14, and it says, the Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you. And it continues down into verse 17. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him. Over and over, there is this small little word all, but that's revealing a great deal. Glorious truth that there is nothing outside of God's providential provision and care. It includes all of brute creation. Now there is a worldview, we don't want to be overly technical, especially this morning, but there is a worldview, a certain mindset towards this life that is called naturalism. And this is very prevalent in higher education and in our secular society. So it's something we do need to be aware of and also to be warned of. But naturalism is the philosophical belief that everything that exists merely arises out of natural properties and causes. So naturalism says there's no supernatural. or spiritual explanation. So naturalism basically is atheistic or at least agnostic. And if there is a God, well, he's not the cause of all that is. Naturalism is really the expression of human arrogance and idolatry. And it says, well, we understand in our pretended wisdom that God is not the cause of all things, but that things just simply cause themselves. Of course, naturalism is a diabolical lie. And it's interesting. Is it not interesting that in the Western culture of the United States of America, which by and large is largely secular in its practical existence, still almost everyone today is celebrating Thanksgiving Day. But for the secularist, for the naturalist, for our unbelieving neighbors. Who are they thanking? And maybe, maybe this presents you with an opportunity for winsome, and I wanna stress that word, winsome evangelism. Maybe if you have a conversation with a neighbor or a coworker, next week and you talk about Thanksgiving, maybe the opportunity will come up to ask them, well, who did you thank on Thanksgiving Day? My guess is that if you ask someone who is not able to say, my God, in the sense of Psalm 145 verse one, they will stutter and they will stammer. Well, well, well, chance, fate. my employer, my family, myself, and that will give you the opportunity to imitate something of the Apostle Paul at Mars Hill in Athenagoras in Acts 17 where he says, the God whom you ignorantly worship, I proclaim to you. The God who is comprehensive in his providence. the God who is unchangeable, and the God who has provided a savior for sinners. Because God's providence is comprehensive over all of creation. Not only all of creation, but all of the members of humanity. The eyes of the Lord are upon all. And so verse 15, the eyes of all look to you and you give them their food in due season. I wanna pause a minute at that phrase in due season. Because the Lord's providence is comprehensive over time. all objects in creation, whether those be animate objects, human beings, animals, or inanimate objects, the trees, the sun, the stars, but God's providence is also comprehensive in all seasons. Now we could apply that literally, based upon the covenant of grace, and it has implications also for the continuation of the seasons. So, for example, in Genesis 9, when God reveals his covenant of grace to Noah, there's implications for creation. So as long as time continues, there is a seed time and a harvest. Now, sometimes the seed time comes a little earlier in the spring, sometimes it's a little later in the spring, the same thing with the harvest. Sometimes the harvest happens a little earlier in the fall, sometimes later in the fall, depending upon growing conditions, et cetera. But there's always a springtime, there's always a harvest, and why? because of God's sovereign providence. Time continues. And so even the boys and girls know that winter is always followed by spring, and spring is always followed by summer, and summer is always followed by fall. And it continues because God sustains all things. And so in the springtime, we give thanksgiving to God for that which is unique to the springtime. And you can think of the fresh spring breezes. the warming of the air, the coming to life of the yard and of the fields. And then spring as it has testified to the greatness of God gives way to the glorious summer months in which the days are longer and you have the opportunity to enjoy the warm weather and some of the activities that go along with that warm weather. And then about the time that you say, well, it's kind of warm, Summer transitions into fall, and you have the opportunity to note with gratitude and thankfulness the display of God's majesty as the leaves change, and as God, so to speak, paints this brilliant palette of colors upon the landscape. And then the days shorten and we are reminded that God is continuing his purposes and that these things are not just happening by some random mystery, but God is moving all things forward through time to that determined end where he will be all in all. And then fall gives way to winter and winter has its own testimony. of the majesty and the power of God. But not only in literal seasons, but also we can apply this somewhat figuratively because in life, as we experience, there are different seasons of life. You can think of one's childhood, and boys and girls, you have wonderful opportunities as a boy and a girl to enjoy life. You have all kinds of energy. And that's good, God gave you that energy. And you can run and you can skip and you can play and you can laugh. And you can make snowmen in the winter. And you can swim in the lake or in the pool in the summer. And you can do all of these things to the glory of God by thanking him for the opportunity to do them. You can ride your bike. You can bounce a basketball. You can hit a baseball. And you can do it all to the glory of God in that unique season of life when you are a child. You can enjoy going to grandpa and grandma's house. You can enjoy hanging out with your cousins. You can enjoy learning things from your parents and from your teachers. But then, rather quickly, that season of life gives way to the season of young adulthood. And then also in that unique season of young adulthood, there's growing strength, quite common, and growing knowledge, and then there's the wonderful opportunity to begin to take more responsibility for your life. Underneath, of course, the guidance of your parents, you have the opportunity to explore your unique interests in life, your unique skills, your unique talents and gifts. And you have the opportunity with the energy that you have to develop those and to form them and to fashion them. And then also your relationships begin to mature with other individuals. So you have the opportunity to interact with friends. And perhaps in God's providence, the time comes where you meet a significant other person. And then maybe that love begins to blossom that leads towards marriage and all of that also is a gift of God to enjoy that season of life and to give God thankfulness for that season of life. Because there's unique opportunities in that season of life that you will never again have. Something of the freedom, Something of the initial experience of a certain independence, not a rebellious independence, but then perhaps also comes the seasons of full adulthood where responsibilities increase with marriage and with children and with all of the responsibilities, but there also is the unique season in life to acknowledge with thankfulness to God. the good gifts of marriage and of family and of children. But those years perhaps give way to the elderly years. And the elderly years can be unique years in that perhaps some of the strength or maybe much of the strength of one's youth begins to be taken away. But much wisdom has been gained. hopefully underneath the providence of God. And many of the responsibilities of the middle-aged years are now relaxed to some extent. And the elderly years as well are a unique season to acknowledge the sovereign comprehensive providence of God and to thank him. for being exactly who he should be and doing exactly what he should do. Now in order to express thankfulness for God's comprehensive providence in all seasons, we need to continually and increasingly learn the gift of contentment as the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 4 verse 11 through 13. Not that I speak in regard to need for I have learned Notice that I have learned, this did not just come naturally. I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. I know how to be abased and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And that transitions us into our third point of consideration. The Christian should express thankfulness for providence that is condescending. Now what do we mean when we speak about condescending providence? Condescending itself just simply means a voluntary descent from one's rank or dignity in relations with an inferior. So God voluntarily comes down to care especially for those of us who need care. And we find this also expressed within our text. Verse 14, the Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. I'm not going to say it's easy to be thankful in times of prosperity. Times of prosperity, whether that be financial prosperity, whether that be relational prosperity, whether that be material prosperity, that brings its own unique challenges. In times of prosperity, there is the temptation to forget God. There is the temptation to Imagine self-reliance. To think, oh, I've done all of this. I've got it made. I've got a plan. And it's all coming together. So that's the unique challenge in the times of prosperity. And God's word comes to us and says, in times of prosperity, don't forget to thank God because of his comprehensive covenantal providence. But it's also, it's also a unique challenge to be thankful to God in times of adversity. In times in which, for whatever reason, one finds themselves falling. Or finds themselves bowed down. And this might be a spiritual falling or a spiritual limitation, it might be the wrestlings of the soul, maybe doubting the goodness of God, doubting the faithfulness of God, which we shouldn't do, but nevertheless, sometimes through the weakness of our faith, we find ourselves doing. It might be that we're falling down provisionally and that we look upon this past year and maybe for some of us it hasn't been the most profitable year. Because of circumstances within our control or outside of our control. Maybe there's been a corporate downsizing. Maybe there's been declining abilities to perform at work that's led to a wage reduction. Maybe as the economy does what the economy does. Maybe we find ourselves looking back at this year and going, you know, this year wasn't quite as favorable financially as previous years were. Maybe it's in relation to our own health. Maybe we look at the year 2025 and go, this was a year marked by doctor's appointments and hospitalizations and medications and test results. And maybe we say, you know what, when I look at the sum of them, They weren't all very favorable from my perspective. Maybe there is glaring evidence that the strength that we mentioned of the years of our youth is no longer something that we possess. What do we do then? Maybe it's relationally. Maybe for someone here, this Thanksgiving Day will be the first Thanksgiving Day that there's an empty chair. around the table, a chair that was formerly occupied by a loved one who perhaps has passed away since last Thanksgiving day. Or maybe there's an empty chair because of a strained relationship within the extended family. And as you look around the family gathering, you can't help but notice How can you be thankful then? Well, the answer is found in verse 14. The Lord upholds all who are falling. The Lord upholds all who are falling. We have a saying, and again, it's not original with us, but it's become something of a refrain in our household. Let God be God. And if you find yourself on this Thanksgiving Day morning, because of any of these circumstances that we described, or others similar to it, if you find yourself saying, you know, in 2025, I kind of find myself one who's falling, one who's bowed down, I want to encourage you Trust in the providence of God. In his covenantal providence, he has said, for the sake of Jesus Christ, I will be your God, and you will be my people, and I will never leave you, and I will never forsake you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. When you go through the valley of the shadow of death, fear not, for I am with you. and not only His covenantal providence, but His comprehensive providence. There's no circumstance outside of His control. Nothing happens to us or in our lives that God did not see, and not only not see, that God did not determine from all of eternity with His infinite knowledge and wisdom. and all things must have to work together for good for those who love the Lord. So trust in this covenantal providence and this comprehensive providence, but also especially for those who perhaps are weighed down, trust in this condescending providence that the Lord gently carries those that are weak and those that stumble. because that's the type of God he is. A God who, for example, in verse eight, is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. A Lord who is good to all and whose mercy is over all that he has made. And so may we give thanks to him, amen. Let's pray together. Our heavenly Father, We do glorify you and we do praise you as we reflect upon who you are, especially who you are as our covenantal Lord for the sake of Jesus Christ. And Father, you know the condition of every single person in this building. You know their unique circumstances in life. We pray that you would minister to our hearts, reminding us of your majesty and of your faithfulness and then move us to give you thanksgiving for who you are and what you have done and what you have promised that you would continue to do. We pray this for the sake of Jesus Christ, amen.