Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 179 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

A Thankful Servant Part 1

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 179 of our Trek, and yesterday we climbed the five steps to a Thankful Thanksgiving. Today and for the next two days, we will look at the Psalm of Thanksgiving, Psalm 100. If you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek episodes, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at The Big House in Marietta, Ohio. Today is a special day in the United States, one of the most special days of all year. It is Thanksgiving Day.  This is a day to watch parades, enjoy a delicious meal, fellowship with our family and friends, and watch football or other fun activities.

As a Christ follower, it is also a day when we give thanks to God from whom all blessing flow. On our Trek today and the next two days, let us learn to become a thankful servant as we look closely at the Psalm of Thanksgiving, which is Psalms 100.

A Thankful Servant Part 1

We all love to hear the story of the Pilgrims. In 1620, a ship full of 102 religious refugees and 30 crew members, set sail for Virginia. The Christians longed to build a community to the greater glory of God. But, having been blown off course, they landed on Cape Cod.

Coming ashore at Plymouth Rock they established a settlement and prepared as best they could for their first winter. Short on supplies and even with the aid of native Indians, just half the Pilgrims survived the bitter freeze. Only three couples that began their voyage together were spared the ravages of death in their family.

In the light of such bitter hardship and disappointment, what would be their disposition towards life and God? After all, they came to America precisely because they were convinced it was God’s will. They wanted to worship God without the interference of the state and to get their children away from the worldliness of Europe. But, rather than feeling sorry for themselves in the face of loss and succumbing to cynicism or fleeing back to Europe, they celebrated what has become known as the ideal American holiday, Thanksgiving. This simple act of faith is one of the most tenacious expressions of true spirituality in our history!

The observance of Thanksgiving comes directly out of the Old Testament tradition of Feast Days. A thank offering was prescribed in the Law of Moses as a special burnt offering for deliverance granted or blessings received. In the Old Testament we have a beautiful expression of thanksgiving that serves as a window into which we will peer to see the spirit of true, thankful worship of God.

Psalms 100 is the only Psalm entitled, “A Psalm of Thanksgiving.” The Psalm is written from the perspective of a worshipper who has come to the temple in order to present their thank offering. Psalm 100 is the pinnacle of praise in a series of Psalms that exalts the Covenant Lord of Israel as the great king of all the earth.

Imagine yourself back in Old Testament days coming to the temple, with your family to offer your thank offering. You enter into the outer court of the temple, and in front of you is the brazen altar. You feel the radiant heat from its fire and smell the savory aroma of its sacrifices. As you present your gift to the priest, he asks you, “What has God done for you for which you are thankful?” On this Thanksgiving, what are the reasons for which you have come to praise God?

Psalm 100 gives us instruction in our thanksgiving.

1.   Your Thank Offerings Must Be Passionate

Psalm 100:1-2 says, “Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth!