LORD, I HAVE FORGOTTEN!

Psalm 78

How do you spend Thanksgiving Day? My earliest memories consist of going to the old family farm surrounded by cousins, aunts and uncles I saw only on that day each year. Hunting was a part of the routine as was a huge potluck meal from the contributions of the various families—drinking milk that was fresh from the cows, corn cob fights in the barn, the old folks sitting around the wood stove talking the afternoon away. My recollections are good ones. But what about the part of giving thanks to the Lord for His goodness? Somehow in all the other traditions, as a child I think I forgot to do that!

Now the day is notable for big football games, parades, turkey dinners, travel to be with families—but still there seems to be very little emphasis on the giving of thanks.

When the day was first set aside as a national day of thanksgiving, the year was 1777 and the holiday was declared by the Continental Congress. It did not become an official annual holiday until Abraham Lincoln declared it so in 1863 but it did not find a consistent spot on the calendar until 1939 when Franklin D. Roosevelt made the third Thursday of November the national day but not everyone agreed until 1941 when the fourth Thursday of November was chosen to be the day.

But selecting the day obviously did not set the agenda and year after year people spend the entire day without giving any thanks to the Lord for His sovereign rule and provision in our lives. Unfortunately, that is even true among His disciples—we have forgotten to give thanks!

THESIS: Until we recognize and remember the blessings of God in our lives, we will dishonor the Lord through our failure to give Him thanks for all He has done.

I. INGRATITUDE IS THE RESPONSE OF A HEART THAT FORGETS AND FORSAKES GOD.

--Those who have developed patterns of ingratitude typically are those who have dismissed the Lord as an irrelevance who is not necessary in their lives.

--Not only is He irrelevant to them in day to day living, His existence and presence offers them a target for their displeasures and disappointments—in other words, forget or ignore Him completely until you run into trouble, then blame Him to justify forsaking Him.

--In Psalm 78, this pattern appears in several forms:

A. THE CURSE OF ENTITLEMENT

Definition: A perceived "right to demand." Opposite of a gift, in that it is without appreciation. A "you owe me" obligation for which, I owe nothing in return.

Psa. 78:17-19 Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. ¹⁸ And in their heart they put God to the test By asking food according to their desire. ¹⁹Then they spoke against God…

--The people of Israel demonstrated their ingratitude by their demands upon God, their selfish sense that they were entitled to be served by God.

--Even though they continued to sin against Him and speak badly of Him, they assumed that it was their “right to demand” from Him whatever they desired and it was His obligation to meet their demands.

Everywhere we turn, we find that same attitude today. People who have no interest in loving, serving or worshiping God feel that somehow He owes them. When you believe that someone owes you something, not only are you unlikely to be thankful when you receive good things, you actually become somewhat belligerent if your expectations come up short.
I wonder how many people are angry at God because life is a disappointment to them right now. Because they are cursed with an attitude of entitlement, they blame Him for not giving them what they think they deserve, what they have every right to expect in their own estimation!

--Friends, be thankful today that God does not deal with us according to what we deserve, but withholds that in order to be merciful and gracious to us instead.

Psa. 103:10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

--If we are entitled to anything from the Lord, it would be His anger and judgment against us for our sin against Him and our ingratitude in the face of all that He has done for us!

B. THEir CONTEMPT FOR LOYALTY

Psalm 78:37 their hearts were not loyal to him, they were not faithful to his covenant.

--After all He had done for them, they had no sense of loyalty to Him at all.

--Instead, they treated Him with contempt by actually…

78:35-36 “remembering that God was their rock, and the Most High their Redeemer, but they deceived Him with their mouth, and lied to Him with their tongue.”

--Could God have gained their loyalty by satisfying all their demands, meeting all the requests they insisted on getting from His hand?

--No, the issue was not whether God had performed up to their expectations, but the root issue was that they had no respect for Him, no fear of the Lord was before their eyes.

--They knew that He was the Lord, but their hearts were so darkened and their thinking so twisted that they demonstrated contempt for Him and were completely unwilling to give Him the glory He deserved or the thanks they owed Him.

Rom. 1:21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

--Having no loyalty to Him, no respect for Him, they gave no thanks to Him—and it never occurred to them that they should!

Why does it seem that those who have the most seem to be the least thankful? They take what they have for granted, never acknowledge that the Source of their blessings is God and seldom give any indication that there is one grateful bone in their body!

Even Christians become disloyal to the One who is completely loyal to us, steadfast in His faithfulness to us. We become so when we are willing to receive from His hand and never give thanks!

C. THE CONNECTION WITH UNBELIEF

--Where does this ingratitude come from? It is directly connected with our problem with unbelief.

Psa. 78:21-22, 32 Therefore the LORD heard and was full of wrath, And a fire was kindled against Jacob, And anger also mounted against Israel; ²² Because they did not believe in God, And did not trust in His salvation… ³² In spite of all this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wonderful works.

--God saw that the source of their ingratitude was simple, yet devastating, unbelief!

--Bottom line? They were not grateful because they still did not believe they owed their very lives to the Lord, did not believe that He was worthy of their gratitude, did not believe He was the provider of every good thing they had ever received in their lives!

We have heard enough talk of “the self-made individual” to understand how profoundly the human race believes in our own abilities, our own control of our destinies, our own capacity to take what we want out of life an owe no one anything.

We see every day the consequence of leaving God out of our lives, and still we sin against Him by refusing to believe that He is indeed still the Lord who reigns sovereignly over all things…our own lives included!
Our ingratitude cannot help but be linked to our own self-sufficiency and independent spirits standing in defiant protest against the idea that we owe God anything—not even a word of thanks!

--That kind of unbelief and ingratitude, that way of life that refuses to acknowledge and seek that Lord, brings forth His wrath!

Psalm 78:29-34 So they ate and were well filled; And their desire He gave to them. ³⁰ Before they had satisfied their desire, While their food was in their mouths, ³¹ The anger of God rose against them, And killed some of their stoutest ones, And subdued the choice men of Israel. ³² In spite of all this they still sinned, And did not believe in His wonderful works. ³³ So He brought their days to an end in futility, And their years in sudden terror. ³⁴ When He killed them, then they sought Him, And returned and searched diligently for God;

--But as we have already seen, not for long!

D. THE CAUSE OF DISCONTENT/GRUMBLING

--They soon returned to their grumbling and complaining, not because they had nothing or too little, but because they were sorry specimens of ungrateful humanity—those who refused to trust God, to believe God, to give thanks to God, but quick to blame Him for whatever inconvenience or disadvantage they perceived to be theirs.

--Do you know anyone who is discontent, anyone who constantly complains, anyone who grumbles about everything—even when they have experienced more of the goodness of God than 90% of the rest of the world?

--The entire time the Israelites were in the wilderness, they maintained their habit of grumbling against the Lord, constantly complaining about what they did not have instead of being grateful for what they did have!

Exodus 15:24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?”

Exodus 16:2-3 And the whole congregation of the sons of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness…”Would that we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into the wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Exodus 17:3 But the people thirsted there for water; and they grumbled against Moses and said, “Why, now, have you brought us up from Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

--Do you see a pattern here? A people who will not be satisfied with God’s provision will always be ungrateful and that ingratitude will express itself with the grumbling of discontented hearts.

Their discontent had nothing to do with what God had done for them, never for what they had already received from His hand. That is still true today—some of the most ungrateful and complaining and grumbling hearts around are surrounded by the riches of God’s goodness in their lives!

How about you? Are you more inclined each morning and at the end of each day to express thanks or to complain? …to appreciate God’s goodness or be frustrated and discontent because you are more focused on what you are missing than what you have?

u We have forgotten His benefits…and we have become ungrateful!

Psa. 103:1-5 Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name. ² Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; ³Who pardons all your iniquities; Who heals all your diseases; ⁴ Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; ⁵ Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.

E. THEir CONTINUATION in SIN

Psa. 78:17-18a Yet they still continued to sin against Him, To rebel against the Most High in the desert. ¹⁸ And in their heart they put God to the test

--Consequently, instead of turning to Him with hearts overflowing with thanksgiving and praise, we show our thanks by sinning against Him (17), testing Him (18), angering Him (21), rebelling against Him (40), grieving Him (40), provoking Him (58) and in many other ways showing their contempt for Him!

--How would you feel if you had gone far beyond all reasonable expectation and poured out your generosity on someone only to have them turn around and treat you this way?

Psa. 78:37 For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

II. GRATITUDE IS THE RESULT OF A HEART THAT RECOGNIZES AND REMEMBERS GOD.

--When we recognize the hand of God, we will immediately give Him thanks because we know that He alone is the Source of every good gift.

James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

--It is only right for us to recognize the Giver and remember to give Him thanks!

Psa. 78:7 That they should put their confidence in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments,

a. CONFIDENCE IN RECALLING HIS FAVOR

Psa. 78:38-39 But He, being compassionate, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them; And often He restrained His anger, And did not arouse all His wrath. ³⁹ Thus He remembered that they were but flesh, A wind that passes and does not return.

--In wrath, God would have been justified in destroying those who treated Him with such ingratitude, but instead He poured out His compassion even more and offered His forgiveness even more.

--Again, we must remember that our confidence does not rest in our ability but in His grace as we recall time and again how His favor has fallen upon us instead of His wrath!

--Are you thankful today—genuinely, profoundly, eternally thankful—for what God has done for you through the forgiveness that is yours by faith in Jesus Christ?

--What confidence we have in approaching Him to express our undying devotion and our inexpressible joy as we give Him thanks for eternal life in Christ!

u Never forget the cross and you will never forget to give thanks in all things and for all things because of Jesus Christ!

B. CONSISTENCY IN TELLING HIS PRAISES

Psa. 78:1-4 Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. ² I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, ³Which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. ⁴ We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, And His strength and His wondrous works that He has done.

--When we get out of the habit of giving thanks, we give implicit approval to a way of life that neglects the Lord and forgets all that He has done and soon forgets who He is!

--We must persist in telling the stories of His faithfulness, repeating the stories of His goodness, recounting the stories of His generosity.

The emphasis in this psalm is on having a strong tradition of rehearsing and repeating the stories of God’s goodness and faithfulness in your home. Do your children realize and recognize how directly God has worked in your life? Have they heard how you came to Christ? What stories will they tell their children about God’s answers to prayer in your family’s history…in your personal life?

What does your family know—or do you know for that matter—about how God has worked in this church? Have you become familiar with His faithfulness, His provision, His direction over the years? Do you and your children give thanks for all that God has given us as a congregation and speak often of those things in order “not to conceal them from your children?”

--Thanksgiving is more than a national holiday—it is a celebration of life for those who recognize, remember and appreciate all that the Lord does in our lives.

--Our homes should be places overflowing with gratitude because we see the hand of God powerfully working to accomplish His eternal purposes and with profound appreciation cannot hold back from “telling His praises…speaking of His strength and the wonders He has done” (78:4).

C. CONTENTMENT WITH OUR PROVISION FROM HIS HAND

--However, the test of our gratitude goes beyond mere words—because even the unfaithful of Israel continued to say the right words.

Psalm 78:36-37 But they deceived Him with their mouth, And lied to Him with their tongue. ³⁷ For their heart was not steadfast toward Him, Nor were they faithful in His covenant.

--The Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah about that condition when He said,

Is. 29:13 Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote

--No, anyone can say the words, but there is a condition of the heart that must be measure by more than what we say.

1. Contentment

--The first measure of our gratitude will always be the level of our contentment—we will be satisfied with all that the Lord is to us Himself, regardless of what He does for us or gives to us.

Phil. 4:11 Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am.

1Tim. 6:6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment.

--The clearest evidence of a grateful heart is that we are satisfied, content, and find the greatest and surpassing value of life is found in having gained Christ and in knowing Him in all His fullness!

2. Joy

--When we understand that our lives are being guided by the Shepherd of our souls, there is great joy in trusting all things to His care.

Psalm 78:72 So he shepherded them according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands.

--God’s faithful provision and His steadfast love bring forth not just contentment which quietly rests in Him, but produces a godly joy and a desire to rejoice in the Lord at all times.

Is. 55:10-12 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, And making it bear and sprout, And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; ¹¹So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. ¹² “For you will go out with joy, And be led forth with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands.

--Is it more than words that express your gratitude to God? Where then is your contentment and where is your joy in the Lord?

Have we fallen into a pattern of ingratitude in our lives? We who belong to Christ do not need a special national holiday to give thanks. That is a normal part of each day when we remember that all that we have has come from the gracious hand of our good and generous Father in heaven.

Would you begin this year to establish a new tradition in your family and with your friends? Let Thanksgiving Day belong to the Lord and take some time in it to remember Him and what He has done in your life—and then give Him thanks!

May we never forget to give thanks in and for all things…but especially let us remember to give thanks for Jesus Christ who died that we might live…and for the Father who gives to us so freely out of the depths of His love!

November 23, 2003

Providence Baptist Church

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