Psalm 136: 1

Thanksgiving Day

GIVE THANKS UNTO THE LORD

I. Sincere Thanksgiving

A. The Hebrew word pictures to throw or cast; then to give thanks, laud, or praise; to reach out or extend a hand.

B. True thanksgiving implies three things.

C.The exhortation of our text is intense and earnest with “O” three times (1-3).

II. We thank God for being “good.”

A. The idea: good, pleasant, and agreeable; excellent and valuable; appropriate and of benefit; moral good.

1. Goodness is God in His essence; He is good in His practice; and He is good in relation to His creatures.

2. Further, God is good beyond all others, i.e., He is good in the highest sense.

B. How is God good?

1. Everything that God does is good, because everything He does arises out of His eternal love of Himself.

2. God goodness to His creatures is determines and caused by Jesus Christ.

C.Therefore, give thanks unto Jehovah, for His is good.

III. God’s goodness is that “His mercy endureth forever.”

A. “Mercy” is God’s attribute: He is absolutely blessed and reveals Himself as such in blessing some of His creatures.

1. In eternal love God is tenderly affected toward His people, moved to bless them and give them all good.

2. When directed toward an object in misery, mercy reveals itself as commiseration with power to deliver out of misery.

B. His mercy is “forever,” i.e., from everlasting to everlasting (Ps. 103:17).

C.This is the solid and always present ground for our thanksgiving. Therefore, we can give thanks always.