Everyone Has It Except Me

Psalm 138
During this thanksgiving season, we need to see beyond our needs and wants, and to recognize the God who so lovingly and faithfully watches over us.

 

Introduction:

        Several months ago, Newsweek had a cover story titled: Everyone is Rich Except Me. Its about a new generation of computer experts making it in the booming Cyber market. They are young, aggressive and many of them are doing very well financially. They talked about retirement before 40. However, at the same time there are still many who are struggling to make a living, or just to survive. They are the ones who cry out: “Everyone is rich except me!”.

        Have you ever felt like this, Everyone has a family except me; Everyone has a green card except me; Everyone has good grades except me; Everyone has a steady job except me. Everyone has a nice house except me. Everyone is healthy except me. Everyone seems so happy and content except me. And then during this Thanksgiving season, everyone has a home to go back to except me.

        You know, when we feel like this, it’s hard to have that spirit of gratitude. We can also think of the families of those A/M students who died in that tragic accident on Thursday morning. In such times of sorrow and anger, it’s hard to give thanks. For many, Thanksgiving season is a rather stressful time.

        On this Thanksgiving Sunday, I would like to share with you one of David’s psalms. Psalm 138 is a short psalm of praise and thanksgiving. From this psalm, we want to look at what some of the reasons for thanksgiving are. And from this chapter, we want to focus on one simple principle, that is, “in our thanksgiving, we need to see beyond our needs and wants, and to recognize the God who so lovingly and faithfully watches over us.”

I. A very personal thanksgiving.

        Like other psalms written by David, this is a very personal one. David writes, "I will praise, I will sing, my heart."

        Its also very sincere. v1,"I will praise you O Lord, with all my heart..." The word praise is also translated as giving thanks. David writes that I thank you with all of my heart. Like the Chinese would say, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

        This word "praise" or "give thanks" has the meaning of giving public acknowledgement. Chuck Swindoll tells of a story about a missionary doctor to India.

        This missionary doctor established a medical mission in a region where progressive blindness was peculiar to that region--blindness as they matured. He developed a procedure to arrest the terrible disease ravaging the people of that region. As people left the clinic knowing that they would see, they would not say, "Thank you," for that was not in their dialect. Instead, they would say, "I will tell your name!" Its like you brought your car to a mechanic for repair. You were so happy with what he did that you told all your friends to bring their cars there for repair. You are telling others his name.

        That is the meaning of praise, and thanksgiving. From the bottom of my heart, I'll tell God's name.

II. Give thanks because of who God is.

        Why did David tell God's name before the gods? Why did David bow down towards the holy temple? v2, "...will praise you (give thanks, tell your name) for your love and faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word." 4, “May all the kings of the earth praise you, O LORD, when they hear the words of your mouth.” 5, “May they sing of the ways of the LORD, for the glory of the LORD is great.” In these 3 verses, David wrote about God's love and faithfulness, His word and Glory as reasons for his thanksgiving. His reasons are God-centered.

        You see, the OT worldview is God-centered. God was the center and the initiator of the Jewish history. God called and chose the Israelites to become his people. He gave them land and delivered them from slavery. He made them into a nation. He delivered them from their enemies. He took the initiative to build a loving relationship with his people.

        Israelites’ political, social, legal system and personal ethics are reflections of this loving relationship with God. Their entire existence is to be a reflection of who God is.

        From day one of their history, they experienced God's unconditional love and faithfulness. In the midst of their rebellion and disobedience, God had never stopped loving them. David thanked God for his love and faithfulness.

        God's glory was another reason for David’s thanksgiving. Not just David, but all the kings of the earth. Glory is being defined as: Excellence, beauty, majesty, power, perfection, completeness, wholeness, utter desirability of God. The fascinating power he exerts over man. One looks at the beauty of creation, there is God's glory. There are times, that God will manifest his glory by working in human life situations. David was aware of how God through mighty acts led the Israelites out of Egypt. How he delivered them out of their enemies’ hands. Then several hundreds years after David, God became man, suffered and died on the cross for our sins. On the third day he rose from the dead. This is God’s glory. His glory continued to show forth when he reached down to each of us. Saving us from the power and bondage of sin, giving us a new life and changing us into his likeness.

        Besides love, faithfulness and glory, there is more. Two times in this passage David mentioned God's word as reason for thanksgiving. This again goes back to their loving relationship with God. It is God's word that provide them with the framework of knowing how to live in this loving relationship with God. It’s God's word, that bring us back to God's grace. Showing us how to live as his children. This is the reason for thanksgiving.

        You see, we thank God not because of what we had received from him, or how we felt about him. We thank him because he is the loving, faithful, glorious God. He is the one who has spoken. We thank him not just because of the gifts we have received but give thanks for the giver himself.

III. Give thanks because of answered prayers.

        v3,"when I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted. "When David was weak, he called upon God and prayed. God answered his prayers, making him strong and courageous. David gave thanks to God, told of his name because God had answered his prayers.

        We, too, have experienced God's love and faithfulness in answering our prayers. We need to pause and recall those answered prayers. For some, He has brought part of our family members together, or providing food and other daily necessities. For others a child has come back to God, or is maturing in the Christian faith. To some it has been an unexpected provision of a job and income you needed. To others it has been a healing of relationships that have been damaged over many, many months. Or for some it has been a relief from physical pain. Some of us can thank God for answering our prayer that we want to be more like Him. He has put us into some difficult situations: whether it be other's mistakes or out of our own stupidity, causing us to see the need for humility, kindness and gentleness. To some it is protection from Satan's attack.

        I think it's good for us right now to just pause for a few seconds to recall an answer to prayer from God. Let's do that. (Pause) We give thanks to God for those answered prayers.

IV. Give thanks because God watches over the poor and the lowly.

        v6," Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with your right hand you save me." David was talking about adversities in his life. There were times when he was rather miserable. He was in the midst of troubles. Enemies surrounded him. He was the oppressed one. He was mistreated. Yet God has never left him alone. He rescued and preserved David's life. Thus even in the midst of despair, there was hope for David. Therefore David thanked God. God always has an eye on the poor, the widows, the orphans, the forgotten ones in the prison, the unfairly treated and distress persons. And for this reason, they don’t have to feel despair, there is hope for them.

        Some of us are going through very difficult moments in life. You have experienced death in the family, the breaking up of a relationship and the loss of a job. You or your loved ones have a life threatening illness. You maybe angry because you feel mistreated and discriminated at your workplace. You feel so unfair that you are still struggling to stay in this country. You feel lonely and tired of the single life. Sometimes it’s easy to fall into that self pity mode. Everyone has it but me. This will only result in resentment and bitterness.

        But David reminds us: don't despair. When the economy has turned against us, like an enemy, there is no reason to despair. Though I feel very alone, there is no reason to despair. Though I am walking in the midst of distress, there is no reason to despair. When I find myself in the fires and waters of life, there is no reason to despair. When I walk thru the valley of shadow of death, there is no reason to despair. Why? Because the almighty, loving and faithful God has not forgotten me. His eyes is watching over me like his eyes are on the sparrow. This is hope. This is our reason for giving thanks. This is the reason for being able to sing a song of thanksgiving.

V. Give thanks because of God's involvement in life.

        There is one more reason for praising and thanking God. v8,"The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever-- do not abandon the works of your hands." Here David is thanking God for His involvement in his life. The lord will fulfill his purpose in David.

        You see, God is not like the watchmaker. After he puts the watch together, he winds it up and lets it run on its own. And then once in a while he'll come in to lubricate or to wind it again. NO, God is not like this. He is actively involved in our lives. He is fulfilling his purpose in our lives.

        What is his purpose in our lives? Paul in Romans 8:28,29 tells us, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” His purpose for us is that we become like Jesus Christ.

        How does he do that? Not by a magic wand. Sometimes he allows different situations to come to us. Usually they are not happy ones. We would have never planned it ourselves. But in those situations, he molds and shapes us.

        There are also times he will use different people in our lives to change us. Usually they are people quite close to us. Again, if we have a choice, we probably will stay away from them. But no matter how hard we may try, we find ourselves having to interact with them on a regular basis. Sometimes it is work related, other times ministry related.

        Whether its through circumstances or people, God works in our lives to fulfill his purpose of changing us into the image of his son, our lord Jesus Christ. His purpose in our lives is that we reflect his love, humility, peace, gentleness and holiness. He wants our lives to be a reflection of our loving relationship with him.

        We thank God because we know he is actively working in our lives to fulfill his purpose for us.

Conclusion:

        David's psalm has provided us with several reasons to give thanks to God. We thank him because of who he is: his love and faithfulness glory and word. We thank him because of answered prayers. We can be thankful because there is hope in the midst of adversity, he would never leave us alone. For he is very active in our lives, fulfilling his purposes in us, that we become more and more like him.

        And you know what, when we give thanks for such reasons, we begin to rise about the haves' and have-nots. Even though everyone has it except me, won’t bother me anymore. For our thanksgiving, our gratitude is focus on the God who is loving and faithful.

        About 300 years ago, the first group of pilgrims came to this land in the Mayflower. Their first year here was like a nightmare. half of the group died during the severe winter months. The following year's harvest was poor. Yet, William Bradford, one of the leaders paused and led the people to give thanks to God. Not for the abundance or prosperity surrounding them, but for God's goodness and faithfulness.

        On Thursday, someone asked a talk show host a question. She will be going to a Catholic family for the thanksgiving meal. Being a non-religious person, she asked should she give thanks. The talk show host was having a hard time to come up with an adequate answer.

        Isn’t it true that we can all give thanks for our friends, our families, our jobs, even our pets. But when you take God out of the picture, they all become rather hollow, right?

        This week as we gather together with our family or friends, may we spend a few moments to focus on God. To think of his love and faithfulness. You see, the focus of our thanksgiving is not only for the gifts we have received from him, we give thanks for the giver himself.


Sunday Nov 21st, 1999, Rev. William Hsueh, Houston Chinese Church, Houston, Texas.