The Confidence of Thanksgiving - Psalm 118:1-9

We gather on Thanksgiving to reflect on all the blessings of God bestowed on us. We think back to stories we have heard of native peoples supplying the pilgrims with food to enable their survival through a bleak winter. We gather to celebrate harvest and rejoice in knowing that God has provided for us. We gather to join our hearts with one another, to remember that all good things come from God who sends wind, rain, and sunshine for the benefit of all. We gather to remind ourselves that we indeed depend upon God. Is it a formality, or are our lives truly built on the confidence declared in our practices of Thanksgiving?

The psalmist begins his words with a declaration that Yahweh is indeed good, that steadfast love is God’s essential character. John Wesley would likely have used the term grace if writing this psalm. The concept is essentially the same. God is good, because God is gracious. God is gracious, because God is loving. God is loving, because God is gracious. God is gracious, because God deals in goodness and love toward all persons, nations, and peoples.

Israel had a history of dealings with Yahweh. Throughout that history, Yahweh had been nothing but good to Israel, whether we are speaking of Israel’s priests, the Levites, or the rank and file of all its tribes, including the immigrants who had attached themselves to the nation. Jointly, they had a singular declaration to make. Yahweh is good, steadfast, unwavering in love and compassion. Yahweh was always at hand when the people were facing peril or distress. All too often, however, we find that seeking Yahweh’s assistance was a last resort.

In the days of Gideon, the prophets called Israel to trust in Yahweh’s deliverance, but it took a special intervention for Gideon to place his life in Yahweh’s hands. In the days of Moses, the people were reticent to trust Yahweh to lead them into the Promised Land. In the days of Joshua, the people had great victories, but they also failed to follow through in trusting Yahweh to lead them to full victory in taking possession of the entire land. In the days of Elijah, they turned to Baal instead of Yahweh. In the days of Samuel, they gave up on following Yahweh through a cycle of judges, demanding a king, instead. In the days of Saul, they followed Yahweh halfheartedly. Over and over again, generation after generation, they only partly lived up to their call to serve Yahweh with heart, mind, and soul.

The psalmist called them back to rehearse Yahweh’s great blessings. He understood that recalling what Yahweh had done on behalf of the nation over the generations could be a source of hope for us in new circumstances of distress. When we look at God’s actions, God’s character shines through. Over and over and over again, Yahweh has demonstrated grace, compassion, redemption, provision, and welcome to all who would draw near. Yahweh has been faithful, while humanity has fallen short on every single measure.

We have failed to trust God. We have failed to seek God. We have failed to acknowledge our dependence upon God for even basic things like breath, food, and water. We have failed to accept that Yahweh’s demands for us are in our best interest. We have failed to match the character of our lives to what Yahweh requires of us. We have failed to live up to the basics like loving our neighbors.

Amid all our failure and recognition that we cannot hold a candle to Yahweh’s demonstrated grace and character of love, we stubbornly place our confidence in people instead of God. As Paul states, we exchange the revealing of God’s character to embrace people as fitting leaders. We follow failed human beings instead of trusting God as sufficient to lead us into the unknown and provide for us in the darkest moments of our experience.

Where we place our hope has a lot to do with how we live into a life of thanksgiving. Taking the time to enumerate what God has done reminds us of who God is. God is known in the character of those mighty acts of redemption throughout the history of humanity. God is also known in the character of the small and daily deeds of providing amid our lesser trials and routines of living. In order for us to live in confidence, we need to join the psalmist’s exercise of rehearsing Yahweh’s deeds of redemption. We need to lift our focus beyond our penchant for trusting people to place our confidence where it should be centered. Rather than seeking after the Baals of human creation or placing our trust in humans, we need the One who has never failed.

We remain fearful when we follow human leaders. We fear, for they are too much like ourselves. One may rise to the head of the pack, but one will never rise to the full character of Christ Jesus. One may display power and strength but will never display victory over death. One may flash wealth and influence as their tools of trade but never bring rain for the fields or cause the sun to shine. The trappings of human power structures can never match the wonder of God’s graceful provision of life for all.

Back in Egypt, the people were enslaved by those who sought earthly wealth and power. Yahweh led them out, showering them with booty though they never lifted a weapon of war. Jericho’s walls offered no protection for a people who were afraid of Yahweh’s people marching into the land. Joshua did not trust himself, but simply placed his life at Yahweh’s service. Elijah confronted 850 prophets, the king, and the queen without raising a sword in battle. He simply followed Yahweh’s direction and trusted that Yahweh would provide. Jezebel was left unable to touch him. While Israel followed a human power structure, Elijah and Elisha placed their confidence in Yahweh as the only one worthy of their worship and service.

Wealth matters little when health is on the line. Power matters little when heartache strikes. God is above those human concerns. God’s purposes go far beyond our reliance upon failed human leaders. God alone is worthy of our confidence. God alone is worthy of our thanks. God alone is worthy of our praise.

God alone is good. God alone is faithful. God alone is true. God alone is worthy of our devotion. God alone is a fitting refuge when we are struggling. God alone can answer when it really matters. With Yahweh at our side, what have we to fear? The only issue we need to concern ourselves with, then, is whether we have truly placed our confidence in Yahweh. There is no other worthy of our thanks, praise, or confidence. When we can place our all in the hands of the One who created the world we inhabit, there is nothing to fear. There is only life to be lived in the confidence of God’s great love, grace, mercy, and compassion. When we can live in that confidence, there is life to share abundantly with all we encounter.

Today is a day we set aside for Thanksgiving. We recall God’s mighty deeds throughout history. We recall how native Americans welcomed strangers with gifts of food to see them through a difficult winter. When we are truly thankful, that is what it looks like. It looks like having the confidence in God’s provision such that we can extend our tables to meet the needs of the larger community around us. It looks like God’s grace flowing through our lives. What does the character of our confidence in God look like? If it doesn’t look like confidence, what is our giving of thanks really worth?


— ©Copyright 2019, Christopher B. Harbin

http://www.sermonsearch.com/contributors/104427/

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