I’m not sure the Lewises will ever again be invited over to the Schlawin’s for dinner. For some time now, Pastor Fedke, Pastor Schlawin and myself have gathered our three families together for what we like to call reverend revelry (O.K. I might be the only one who likes to call it that). Basically, every other month or so we get together, have a few drinks, solve a few of the world’s problems, and enjoy a nice meal together.
At our last meal the Schlawin girls impressed us with their culinary skills by preparing a Chinese style meal on an industrial sized griddle, right before our eyes. It was like we were at a hibachi restaurant; there was a flaming onion volcano and everything. We were all excited eat. We folded our hands and began to say grace. Of course, being Lutheran ministers, we said the common table prayer. we prayed, “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest and let these gifts to us be blest”. Then suddenly, right in what I would call the middle of our prayer pastor Schlawin said, “Amen”. I was aghast. Could it be that my brother had forgotten the second half of the common table prayer? Not wanting to embarrass him I continued loudly and firmly, for I was now praying for both of us, “O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, His love endures forever, Amen.”
I looked up from our prayer expecting to see an embarrassed expression on poor Pastor Schlawin’s face. But instead I saw what can only be describe as defiance. Pastor Schlawin began to explain that he thought it best to say what he called “the second half of the common table prayer” at the end of the meal. To which I replied, “Oh, I’m sorry I thought you said you were a Lutheran pastor”. Well, the next thing you know we were throwing fried rice and kung pow chicken at each other. If it wasn’t for our wives threatening to skewer us both with chop sticks, we might still be feuding. So, as I said, I’m not sure the Lewises will ever again be invited over to the Schlawin’s for dinner. At least not until we can agree on proper protocol for giving thanks unto the LORD.
O.K. I will admit, though inspired by real events, that story was slightly exaggerated[1], but it serves as an illustration for the confusion that exist concerning the thanks we give unto the LORD. Today I thought we would take a look at Psalm 100 and see if we can get a little clarity on the proper protocol for giving thanks unto the LORD (secretly I am hoping to prove pastor Schlawin wrong).
Now, preaching on the psalms is not always the easiest thing to do. There is no story to retell, sometimes we know who wrote them and for what occasion but sometimes, as is the case with Psalm 100 we know neither who wrote it nor for what occasion it was written, so there is no background that can be given in a sermon, and often when you read a psalm there is no specific law or gospel that can be readily applied. To add to the difficulty the psalms are written in the Hebrew language. You have, no doubt, heard me explain one of the things that makes the Hebrew language so difficult is that stylistically it is similar to poetry. Well the psalms are poetry written in a poetic style.
That is not to say that the Psalm are difficult to understand. Take a look psalm 100 and you will see a beautiful balance and structure emerge. Take a look at how it is presented in our bulletin. It is on page 5. There you will see there are two sections to this psalm. As I studied these two sections it seemed to me as though the first section is about giving thanks when we are out there, and the second section is about giving thanks when we are in here. I will talk about them one at a time but before I do, I want to also point out that each of these sections has three imperative commands to give thanks followed by three reason why we give thanks. Pretty cool, right.
Let’s take a look at the first part of Psalm 100, the part that I think talks about giving thanks when we are out there.[2] Our first imperative command to give thanks is found in verse 1, “1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.” Our thanksgiving is described as a “shout”. The Hebrew word is רוּעַ. Sounds a little bit like the Marine’s battle cry, “oorah”, doesn’t it? Fitting since this word describes the kind of shouting a soldier might do when they are victorious over an enemy. This shouting was often accompanied by blowing on a shofar or battle horn. A modern expression of this kind of thanksgiving might be a whoop and holler. If you don’t have a shofar handy maybe just fire a gun up into the sky (that is only under adult supervision). Here, thanksgiving is expressed as a victorious celebration.
The reason for such thanksgiving is found in the first part of verse three. There the psalmist writes, “3 Know that the LORD is God.” We have reason to shout for joy to the LORD because our God has been victorious over an enemy. Our God defeated the devil in the battle over the throne of heaven, Our God defeated the devil again in the battle for the souls of mankind, and our God will defeat the devil once and for all at the battle of the end time. Our God is a winner. When we live our lives with joyful celebration we give thanks unto the LORD.
Our second imperative command to give thanks is found in the first half of verse 2. There the psalmist writes, “2Worship the LORD with gladness”. Our thanksgiving is described as a “worship”. The Hebrew word is עָבַד. I am not sure the word “worship” conveys the best meaning here. Worship for us is often thought of as a passive thing we observe. It is not supposed to be that way, but unfortunately that is how we often view worship. In contrast, the word עָבַד expresses a work or service that we perform. Here, thanksgiving is expressed in the things that we do and the service that we perform.
The reason for such thanksgiving is found in the second part of verse 3. There the psalmist writes, “It is he who made us, and we are his.” There is of course a temptation to do what we want to do and serve ourselves, but the reason we serve the LORD and do what He tells us to do is because He made us; no offense to the English poet[3] but we are not the masters of our fate and we are not the captains of our souls. Our God made us, that means He has the right to decide how we ought to live our lives: how much food we should eat, how much alcohol we should drink, how and with whom we should share our bodies, what we should do when someone strikes on the cheek or asks for our cloak. Our LORD made us and so with our works of service; by our obedience to God we give thanks unto the LORD.
Our third imperative command to give thanks is found in the second half of verse 2. There the psalmist writes, “come before him with joyful songs.” The Hebrew the word that tells us to “come before him” is בּוֹא. The word describes a person standing before a host ready to receive hospitality. There is an expectation and a confidence in those who come before Him that He will provide food, clothing, shelter and the other necessities of life. Here, thanksgiving is expressed with a confidence that our heavenly host will give us what we need.
The reason for such thanksgiving is found in the third part of verse 3. There the psalmist writes, “we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.” We can expect things of our God, we can be confident that He will give us what we ask for, as long as it for our good, because we are His people. Like sheep depend on a shepherd to lead them to green pastures and quiet waters, we depend on our God. When we stand before our heavenly host confidently asking Him to give us all that we need for body and life, we give thanks unto the LORD.
Those are three ways we give thanks unto the LORD out there. Now let’s take a look at three ways we give thanks unto the LORD in here[4]. In this section we have three more imperative commands to give thanks.
Our first imperative command to give thanks is found in the first part of verse 4. There the psalmist writes, “4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise”. Here we are told in a poetic way to get our butts in church. It is not suggested that we go to church. It is not recommended that we go to church. It is commanded. It is commanded that we go to church with thanks and praise. The Hebrew word is הָלַל. You no doubt hear the word halleluiah? This word is similar to the whooping and hollering that began our first section. Although, here there seems to be more of an elegance and refinement to it. Instead of shouting there is singing. Instead of a battle horn blasting there are musical instruments playing. Here, thanksgiving is a lifting up of our God in the sanctuary for the things He has done.
The reason for such thanksgiving is found in the first part of verse 5. There the psalmist writes, “5 the LORD is good”. Our God is good. He has made plans to give us hope and a future. Even when our sinful selves or sinful associates hurt or harm us, our God works it out so that those things, perhaps not immediately but ultimately do us good. The Son of God is at this very moment preparing a place for us where we will enjoy the good-est of all goods. Our God is good. When we get our butts to church and sing halleluiah to our God for the good He has done, does, and will do for us, we give thanks unto the LORD.
Our second imperative command to give thanks is found in the second half of verse 4. There the psalmist writes, “give thanks to him”. The Hebrew for word for “thanks” is יָדָה. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew language does not have the same concept of thanksgiving as we do. We content ourselves with saying the words, “thank you”, but the Hebrew asks more of us. The primary meaning behind יָדָה is to acknowledge or confess our sins to God. Here, thanksgiving is expressed when we confess our sins to God.
The reason for such thanksgiving is found in the second part of verse 5. There the psalmist writes, “his love endures forever”. There would be no need for us to confess our sins to God if He were not prepared to do something about them. Thankfully we confess our sins to our God who loves us. Because of His love He sent His Son to be our perfect substitute. Because of His love He allowed His Son to sacrifice His life as payment for our sins. Because of His love our God made Him Who had no sin to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. When we confess our sins to our loving God, we give thanks unto the LORD.
Our third and final imperative command to give thanks is found in the third part of verse 4. There the psalmist writes, “praise his name”. The Hebrew word for “praise” is בָּרַך. This is not a word that describes what we might call praise music. Often such music focuses on our feelings and our emotions. It is often loud and boisterous. בָּרַך is a different kind of praise. It is quiet and contemplative. It focuses on facts and assertions. Here, thanksgiving is expressed with a bending of the knee; a bowing of the head, and a believing in the heart.
The reason for such thanksgiving is found in the third half of verse 5. There the psalmist writes, “his faithfulness continues through all generations”. The reason you can believe in your heart is because your God is forever faithful. For countless generations the LORD has instructed His pastor to put His name on His people. The LORD’s name is not simply a thing that we call Him it is a reminder of His faithfulness. When I put the name of the LORD on you, you are reminded that it is the LORD who faithfully blesses you, it is the LORD who faithfully keeps you, and it is the LORD who faithfully gives you peace. When after His name has been placed on us and we walk out those doors with hearts full of faith, we give thanks unto the LORD.
In Psalm 100 we see that there are many different ways for us to give thanks unto the LORD. So, I suppose that means if pastor Schlawin wants to wrongly give thanks after his meal instead of before it, like all good Lutheran do, I will have to accept it. Should the Lewises ever be invited back over to the Schlawins, I will be happy knowing that at some point and in some way, we will give thanks unto the LORD. Happy Thanksgiving, my friends. Amen.
[1] In truth, 95% of it is completely fabricated.
[2] That is outside of worship as it happens in the sanctuary.
[3] WILLIAM ERNEST HENLEY
[4] That is in the worship service