A Happy Thanksgiving – Dr. Charles Stanley

Dr. Stanley walks us through a number of Psalms that extol God. These verses inspire us to respond to His gracious favor with grateful hearts. When we focus on the Lord, we cultivate a spirit of gratitude that recognizes His goodness, guidance, and provision. For more messages from Charles Stanley, including this week’s broadcast, go to https://intouch.org/watch

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male announcer: In Touch,
the teaching ministry

of Dr. Charles Stanley.

Next on “In Touch,” “A
Happy Thanksgiving.”

Dr. Charles Stanley: When
you think of Thanksgiving,

what do you think about?

Do you think about the landing
of the Pilgrims in sixteen

twenty on this shore
after a long, hard trip

across the Atlantic?

Or do you think about the
landing of turkey and dressing

on your plate at your
house on Thanksgiving morning?

Well, either one would be okay.

But don’t you know that
they were grateful beyond all

measure, leaving their land
of difficulty and hardship,

especially about their
religion, their faith,

and coming to a new land,
unknown, adventurous, uncertain,

probably lots of hardships,
but they were free.

They were free to worship
God the way they intended.

And when I think
about Thanksgiving,

I think about what they must
have thought about on that first

Thanksgiving that they observed
and probably they would have

read the hundredth Psalm.

So, I want us to read this
hundredth Psalm, and then

I want to talk about what
God is saying to us in it.

“Shout joyfully to the
LORD, all the earth.

Serve the LORD with
gladness; come before

Him with joyful singing.

Know that the
LORD Himself is God;

it is He who has made us,
and we not we ourselves;

we are His people and
the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates
with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise.

Give thanks to
Him, bless His name.

For the Lord is good; His
kindness is everlasting and His

faithfulness to
all generations.”

What an awesome Psalm.

And if you’ll think
about it for a moment,

there is not a single negative
note in that whole Psalm.

It’s all positive.

It’s all about God, and
it’s all about who He is

and what He does.

And it certainly ought to be
our attitude and though our

circumstances today
were probably like theirs.

They left because
they were afraid.

They left because they
didn’t have religious freedom.

They left the Continent because
they wanted a new beginning and

a new start and a new life.

And every time a person trusts
the Lord Jesus Christ as their

personal Savior,
they’re born again.

It’s the
beginning of a new life.

Does that mean the
end of problems

and heartaches and burdens?

No, and neither did that mean
that for them because there were

Indians to face and cold
winters and all the rest.

And so life was new, but it
was a beginning of a whole

new perspective on life.

And when I read this Psalm, I
think about how positive it is

in every single way, and I
think about all the things

we have to be grateful for.

So, I want us to look at this
Psalm in the light of what God

is saying to us, and what our
attitude ought to be toward Him

in spite of all the
things that we see today.

So, I want us to look
at it in the light,

first of all, of
how positive it is.

Look at this.

“Shout joyfully to the LORD.

Serve the LORD with
gladness; come before

Him with joyful singing.

Know that the
LORD Himself is God.

Enter His gates
with thanksgiving.

Give thanks to
Him, bless His name.

For the LORD is good; His
kindness is everlasting and His

faithfulness to
all generations.”

Think about all that God
has said in those few verses.

We’re to shout,
serve, come, know,

enter His gates,
enter His courts,

give Him thanks,
and bless His name.

Think about it.

Look back over all the weeks of
this year how good God has been

to you, and all the kind
of ways He’s been good.

What does He say?

Shout about Him, serve
Him, come before Him,

know Him, enter His gates,
enter His courts with praise,

give thanks, and bless His name.

We have lots to be grateful for.

And then I think
about in this passage,

the Lord is a key
figure in this Psalm.

He’s our Creator.

He’s the Good Shepherd, the
Provider, the Protector.

He’s good to us,
lovingkindness is

everlasting, faithful forever.

When you think about God,
think about how awesome He is.

And this Psalm is all
about giving thanks to God.

So, I wonder how often in
a given week or a month,

you just stop and
give thanks to God?

Just say, “Lord, I
just want to thank You.

I want to thank You, thank
You, thank You, Jesus.

I want thank You
that I can talk to You.

I want to thank You
that You hear me.

And Lord, there’s a lot of
things going on in this world I

don’t like, but You’re God and
You’re going to make it turn out

to suit You no matter what.

You’re Jehovah God.”

We have Him to praise
and to sing praises to.

And I love this Psalm
because it’s all about Him.

And when we come
to Thanksgiving,

He’s the object of
our thanksgiving.

And so, when I think about the
Psalms–so I want you to turn to

several of them and
just read them together.

And if you’ll look in
Psalm sixty-six first.

Psalm sixty-six first, and I
want us to read it and look at

it and see what God is saying
because He says the same

thing in every one of them.

Psalm sixty-six,
verse one and two.

Look at this.
“Shout,” how?

Well, that’s not very good.
Shout how?

“Joyfully to
God, all the earth;

Sing the glory of His name;
make His praise glorious.”

That is, when he says
shout joyfully: cheerfully,

happily, lighthearted,
thrilled, excited about

the fact that we love God.

“Shout joyfully to
God, all the earth.”

And then go to, if you
will, to Psalm eighty-one,

and let’s look at
that for a moment.

Psalm eighty-one, and
look at these verses.

Again, the Scriptures
says, “Sing for joy to God our

strength; shout
joyfully to the God of Jacob.

Raise a song,
strike the timbrel.

Blow the trumpet.”

These people made a
noise serving God.

Listen, he says shout joyfully.

Then if you’ll turn to
the ninety-fifth Psalm.

Ninety-fifth Psalm,
verse one and two.

Look at that.

“O come, let us sing
for joy to the Lord,

let us shout joyfully to
the rock of our salvation.

Let us come before His
presence with thanksgiving,

let us shout joyfully
to Him with psalms.”

Isn’t it interesting that the
psalmist says every

time, we’re to shout joyfully?

You can’t shout
joyfully and be quiet.

You say, “Well, I thought
you should come to

church and be reverent.”

Reverence doesn’t
always mean quietness.

It means an
attitude, a reverence,

an attitude
about the One I’m serving.

I can reverence for God and
shout to the ends of the earth.

I can reverence God
and be absolutely quiet.

Reverencing God speaks of
our acknowledgement of Him,

who He is, and all that He is.

And think about what
He’s done in your life.

Every single one of us has a
reason to be grateful to God

and to shout His praises.

And yet we’re
taught to be reverent.

Be quiet when you go to
church and reverence God.

But when I look at
the Psalms, there’s

nothing quiet about that.

Listen to it, shout
joyfully, shout joyfully,

shout joyfully, shout joyfully.

In this ninety-eighth Psalm,
“Shout joyfully to the LORD,

all the earth; break,”
listen, “break forth

and sing for joy
and sing praises.”

That’s what the choir
does, and we sing with them.

“Sing praises to the LORD
with the lyre,” that’s a string

instrument, “with the lyre
and the sound of melody.

With trumpets and a sound of
the horn shout joyfully before

the King, and the LORD.”

When I read those
passages, I think,

there should be such
a joy in our hearts.

And so, these verses, these are
just a few verses in the Psalms,

and then let’s think about this
in listening to these Psalms,

and how God speaks to us, and
there are many other verses,

but there are seven reasons
for our joyful thanksgiving,

if you’ll think about all
these verses that we’ve read.

And the first one is
this: He’s our God.

To think, listen, there are many
gods created by many

people down through the ages.

Many gods, and
they worshiped them.

There are gods
that do not exist.

There are gods that
are in their mind.

There are gods that
have–they’ve been taught.

And it’s idolatry,
but we have a reason

to shout to holy God.

And so, if you think about this,
that the first chapter of the

first book of the
Bible is all about who?

It’s all about God.

It is an expression of God.

What’s the expression of God?

It’s creation.
In the beginning God created.

It’s all about God, the Creator.

And sometime we forget that and
think about all of the things He

created, but He intends
for us to know that He’s

the source of all creation.

He’s still the Creator.

He’s the One who created
a new life within you.

You were born again.

Almighty God, sovereign
Lord of the universe,

Jesus Christ His Son.

We have so much to
be grateful for.

He is our God.

Secondly, He made us, we
didn’t make ourselves.

He gave, listen,
He gave you life.

He gave you the
privilege to live.

He gave you gifts and
talents and skills.

You compare yourself
with somebody else,

you can’t do that, God
didn’t make him and you alike,

He made us all differently.

He made us all for a purpose.

He’s the God who has created us,
and He’s the God who’s made us,

and He’s not made any mistakes.

Anything and everything
in our life God has

allowed for a reason.

So, think, He’s our God, He
made us and we’re His people.

That’s what the Scripture
says, “We’re His people.

We’re the people of God.”

You’re not just
somebody, you’re a child of God,

and we have a reason
to shout to the world that.

And then of
course, He says,

“We’re the sheep
of His pasture.”

Think about that.

Think about how
intimate this is.

He says He’s made us,

and He’s made
us for Himself.

We’re His people,
we belong to Him,

we’re the sheep
of His pasture.

What a beautiful
way of speaking

about our
relationship to Him.

Think about all
the other animals

and so forth in the world.

Sheep and a shepherd,
doesn’t that sound like God?

Why is–why did God choose that

relationship in the Scripture?

Because He loves us and because
He wants us to know that His

attitude toward us
is, He shepherds us,

watches over us, cares
for us, protects us,

guides us, that’s
what shepherds do.

Never forget this, my
first trip to the Holy Land,

we were sitting in this
restaurant and eating,

and I was sitting
next to the window,

and I saw three shepherds bring
their sheep together at a well,

and everything else was
going, and I just happened to be

watching this, and I was
watching out of curiosity

because all those sheep
mix up with each other.

And I thought, what a
mess that’s gonna be.

I couldn’t hear what was saying,
but I did see this shepherd,

one of these shepherds lifted up
his rod and said a few things.

I couldn’t tell
what he was saying.

I watched those sheep separate
according to the voice of that

shepherd, until they were all
going in a different direction,

and what bought them away from
the water to follow a shepherd

was the voice that they
knew, their shepherd,

they knew which to follow.

And I’ll never
forget there thinking,

“God, I hope I’m like that.

I hope I can live such a life
that whenever Your voice comes,

I’ll know it’s You,
it’s not the devil,

it’s not somebody
else, it’s You.”

And when He says we’re
the sheep of His pasture,

and He didn’t say we’re
His sheep of His pasture,

which means He’s the Provider.

He’s the Provider, the Shepherd.

We’re His sheep.

Now, sometimes we
may act like goats,

but we’re not
goats, we’re sheep,

and if a person is lost,
they fit the goat attitude,

probably, but we’re the
sheep of His pasture.

We have a shepherd, we
have somebody to protect us,

to provide for us, to
guide us, to lead us.

Shepherds protect their sheep,
shepherds provide for them,

shepherds watch over them,
and it’s interesting, sheep know

their shepherd’s voice.

And I wonder if you know the
voice of God in your life.

Do you know when God
is speaking to you,

it’s not just your attitude?

It’s not just
something you’ve thought up.

Can you say that you can
identify the voice of God when

He speaks to you?

And God intends for
us to listen to Him.

We’re the sheep of His pasture.

Not just sheep, the
sheep of His pasture.

We have a Shepherd,
not two shepherds,

just one
Shepherd: the Lord Jesus.

When you trusted
Him as your Savior,

He did an awesome thing.

He came into your
life, into your spirit,

and to live His
life through you.

So, we have His voice, we have
His protection, we have His

provision, we have the pathway
that He wants us to walk.

When I think about how
intimately loving and personal

God is, we should never
feel like a stranger.

You should never
have to feel alone.

Now, I know there’s a certain
amount of aloneness when you’re

by yourself, if you
happen to live by yourself,

or whatever it might
be, but not alone.

Once you receive Jesus Christ
as your Savior, He’s in you.

He is this–watch this,
watch this carefully–He is the

Shepherd who has created
every single thing that exists,

and He’s your Shepherd.

Do you acknowledge Him as that?

Do you see Him as that?

Do you think of Him as
being your personal Shepherd?

He is, and we’re His sheep.

Now, we don’t
always obey the

Shepherd, and you
know what He does?

That’s why He has a rod.

Well, you know God
still has a rod,

thank God He doesn’t
let us get but so far.

And why do you think there’s
a hook on the other

end of that rod?

Pull him back.

How many times has God pulled
you and me back in times of

trial or temptation
or whatever it might be,

by His grace and
love and mercy.

An awesome God He is.

And when you read
Genesis chapter one,

it’s all about God.

The, watch this, the rest of the
Bible is about God dealing with

His sheep, and He loves us.

He loves us
eternally, completely,

absolutely enough to cause
us to fellowship with Him,

to praise Him, to shout
His glory and His praises,

and to give Him thanks.

He’s our God, He made us,

we’re His people,
the Scripture says.

We’re the sheep of His pasture.

God is good.

And if you had to sit down this
morning and write out a little

biographical sketch of the good
things God’s done in your life

throughout your life, you could
fill up probably half a book.

At least twenty or thirty or
forty pages maybe of how

God’s been good to you.

Now, you can take another pen,
another book, and write down

all the things that’s happened
to you that were not so good.

I assure you when
you count correctly,

the good things that God has
done in your life far outweighs

the difficulty, hardship,
and pain that you’ve suffered.

But somehow, we forget that.

We forget how good He’s
been because we’ve all

been through difficult times.

We’ve all hurt, we’ve
suffered physically,

we hurt, suffered emotionally.

We’ve all been
through difficult times,

but we all, listen to this, we
all live in godly times because

you are filled with
the Spirit of God.

Your name has been written
in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

You’re on your way to Heaven
no matter what the world does,

the whole thing can blow
up and it’s not going to

affect your eternal life.

We forget how good God is.

We can sing about it once or
twice a year, but think about

how good He’s been to you.

You say, “Well, but
you just don’t know

how bad it’s been for me.”

No, you don’t know how bad
it’s been for people around you.

But the truth is
He’s been good to you.

Because any–even in the
difficult times, God showed up.

When you were in
need, God showed up.

When you were
sick, He showed up.

When you were
lonely, He showed up.

When you were going through
times that you couldn’t share

with anybody else and you were
lonely and you were fed up with

life and you thought about
ending it, He showed up, why?

Because He’s an
awesome, good God,

and the Bible says His
lovingkindness endures forever.

Think about this, when you and I
are going through a tough time,

we have His lovingkindness.

Now, we may not recognize it,
but we have His lovingkindness.

Sometimes you say, “Well,
why does God chastise us?”

Because He loves us.

And if a sheep gets astray, the
shepherd goes after the sheep,

and depends upon where the
sheep or how far or whatever,

he may have to tap him a
little bit to remind him

not to do that again.

Watch this carefully, can you
honestly say that you’re happy

when God chastises you?

Can you say that, amen?

I didn’t think I’d
get much on that.

Think about this.

If God never chastised
us, what would we do?

We’d keep going till
we went over the hill,

fall off the mountain.

It is God’s loving
hand that chastises us,

to remind us don’t
walk out of His will,

there’s danger over there.

You’re going to regret it.

You’re going to find
yourself in trouble.

Just stay with the pack.

Follow the Shepherd,
listen to His voice.

Because the Shepherd’s always
going to provide what we need,

when we need it, how we need it.

Does that mean
there’ll never be rainy days,

hard days, difficult
days, rocky days to walk on?

No.

But the Good Shepherd is there
to protect us and to guide us.

This Psalm is all
about God’s goodness,

and our worship of Him, and
our recognition of who He is.

And so, His
faithfulness

continues with us

throughout all
generations.

That is, watch
this, you will

never have a moment
of your life

when God ceases
to be faithful.

He will always
be faithful.

He will always be
who He says He is.

He will always do
what He says He’ll do.

And when I think
about our

Heavenly Father
always being who

He is, always
doing what He says,

always providing
what He promised,

always being with us through any
and every circumstance of life,

we should shout hallelujah,
praise to God continually.

This is the God whom we serve,
not the god the world serves,

because the–the god the
world serves is all confused,

it’s mixed up with good,
bad, and indifferent,

and they pacify
themselves while saying,

“Well, God understands.”

The god the world serves is
not the God of the Bible,

it’s the god of the devil that
compromises sin and makes sin

acceptable and
misleads people to do evil,

to think evil, to become evil.

That’s not the God of the Bible.

You and I have a God who cares
so much for us that He loves us

enough to chastise us, to keep
us in the center of His will,

which is the place we
understand and experience

the love of God most.

So, when I think about it,
and think about all of–that

this says to us, it speaks
to me of His–of His untiring

goodness, continuous
goodness toward us,

always, His
sacrificial love for us,

think about the cross, and
His eternal faithfulness to us.

Think of those three things.

His untiring
goodness, always there;

His sacrificial love
for us, always there;

His eternal faithfulness to
us, we don’t ever have to

worry about Him changing.

That’s the awesome God we serve,
we should praise Him and thank

Him and glorify His name.

You say, “Well, I
believe He’s forgotten me.”

No.

You may have forgotten him,
and you may be one of

those sheep that’s gone astray.

But if you’ll
notice in the scripture,

watch this–are
you listening, say amen!

Jesus never whipped a
sheep, never beat a sheep,

but He went after the
sheep and brought them back.

And so, you may
feel like, “Well,

I know I was saved
back yonder somewhere,

but God sort of forgotten
me because I backslid and

got into this and
got into that.”

No.

I’ll tell what the situation is.

You’re living in sin, and the
Good Shepherd is waiting

for you to come home.

You say, “Well,
how do I come home?”

By asking Him to
forgive you of your sins,

asking Him to help you get
your life back together,

asking Him to encourage you and
show you the way and thank Him

for His forgiveness and thank
Him for His goodness toward you.

The Good Shepherd
doesn’t beat His sheep.

It’s the sheep who go astray,
and He comes after us

to bring us home.

When I think about God’s awesome
love and I think about this

awesome Psalm, “Shout joy to
the Lord,” the Good Shepherd.

And the Good Shepherd will be
your Shepherd to guide you,

lead you, protect you,
watch over you through

the last moment of your life.

When you breathe
your last breath,

you’ll see Him
for the first time.

What an awesome
eternal thought that is.

If you have never trusted
Jesus Christ as your Savior,

you won’t see Him.

You’ll be eternally
separated from Him.

You say, “Well,
that’s not fair.”

He’s warned you, He’s told you,
He’s sent the message to you

over and over and over again.

And why have you rejected Him?

The one person you need
in your life above

everybody else is Jesus.

“Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden,

and I’ll give you rest.”

“For God so loved the world,
that He gave His only begotten

Son, that whoever believes in
Him will have eternal life.”

“If you confess your sins, He’s
faithful and just to forgive you

of your sins and to cleanse
you from all unrighteousness.”

Why fight God?

When you can receive
the Lord Jesus Christ

as your Savior,
everything changes.

Your name is written instantly
in the Lamb’s Book of Life from

which there are no erasures.

And when you breathe your last
breath, first person you

will see is the Good
Shepherd, the Lord Jesus.

Is that not worth
praising God for?

Amen?
Let’s give God a hand.

Praise God.

Father, we thank you and praise
you for Your goodness and love

and mercy toward us
that’s indescribable.

Praise, thanksgiving,
and blessing to You.

Thank you for loving us.

Thank you for
putting up with us.

Thank you for forgiving us.

Thank you for being here for
us twenty-four hours a day,

knowing everything about us,
know how to heal us from any and

everything, and
know how to bless us.

We just bless you this
morning in Jesus’s name.

Amen.

♪♪♪