[0:00] Would you join me in Psalm chapter number 93? I told you I'd be the first one to give praise tonight, and that's what I'd like to do just for a moment. And then we'll sing a song together and give you a chance to come up here and give testimony.
[0:12] I'm going to read the entire psalm. It's only five verses, and I'm happy for that. I looked at the psalm to know how many plates of food I could eat tonight, and so I was grateful that God gave us a short psalm for the night.
[0:23] Psalm 93, The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength, wherewith he has girded himself. The world also established that he cannot be moved.
[0:34] The throne is established of old. Thou art from everlasting. The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters.
[0:46] Yea, then the mighty waves of the sea. Now testimonies are very sure. Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, forever. I had no doubt that whatever psalm landed on the week of Thanksgiving, that if we went to it and we understood it, it would give us a cause for praising God.
[1:03] Because every time we learn more about God, it causes us to have a grateful heart. The difference between recognizing where we are as humans and knowing how holy God is, in that difference is where we will find thankfulness.
[1:17] When we have a false view of who we are, have a low view of God, we won't be thankful people. So I just want to walk us through this. And I'm going to, before you come up, and it's the right thing to do, that we give praises to God for the things that He has done.
[1:30] For the great events in our lives and for the gifts He's given us. And some of you have children that are new this year that God has given you. All those things are worthy of God's praise. But before we get to listing the things that God has done for us, the greatest thing that I would give thanks for tonight is God for who He is.
[1:48] Our God reigns. That's the first three words. The Lord reigneth. That's something that we should most certainly be thankful for. As Christians, every holiday should be a religious holiday, and most certainly Thanksgiving, right?
[2:02] You should ask somebody on Thanksgiving. They say, Happy Thanksgiving. And then you would say, To whom are you thankful? And the answer is, we are thankful to the God of heaven. So we not only know what we're thankful for, which is a good thing to do, but we know to whom we are thankful, and it's the God of heaven.
[2:20] And so, first of all, we see that God is king. The Lord reigneth. He is clothed with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength. So we see Him as a king in His robe, in all of His splendor.
[2:33] And it says that He is girded, ready for war. He is our warrior king in strength. So He is not only royalty, and above all, the king of all kings, but He is more powerful and more mightier than all, and the world is established by Him.
[2:48] There's strength and majesty to God. We recognize His holiness, and we worship Him. We take great comfort in His strength. I'm going to read to you a quote by S.M. Lockridge. A few years ago, I tried to read a quote by S.M. Lockridge.
[3:01] The only time that I ever tried to use a teleprompter. It was a bad idea. And it was called Friday, but Sunday's coming. Some of you know that poem. And I went up there, and the teleprompter froze, and I just said, it's Friday, but Sunday's coming.
[3:15] And I went and sat down, all right? Thankfully, I'm not using a teleprompter tonight. But I want to remind you, that's my king. I wish I could describe him to you. He is indescribable.
[3:26] He is incomprehensible. He's invincible. He's irresistible. I'm trying to tell you the heaven of heavens cannot contain him, let alone a man explain him. You can't get him out of your mind.
[3:38] You can't get him off your hands. You can't outlive him. And you can't live without him. The Pharisees couldn't stand him, but they found out they couldn't stop him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree.
[3:51] And Herod couldn't kill him. Death couldn't handle him. And the grave couldn't hold him. That's my king. He's always has been, and he always will be. I'm talking about he had no predecessor, and he'll have no successor.
[4:05] There was nobody before him, and there'll be nobody after him. You can't impeach him, and he's not going to resign. That's my king. Praise the Lord. That's my king. We worship a wonderful God.
[4:18] And so before we give thanks for anything else, we just want to give thanks to God for being the Lord over all. He has established this world. I remind you that many times when you feel like life is out of control, and you feel like you're in the middle of chaos, and all the things that you've been given to manage, you can mismanage.
[4:36] But the most important things in the world have been established by him, and you cannot change them if you wanted to. That he has complete control. When James Garfield was going to be the president after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Garfield encountered a mob quite angry that the beloved Lincoln had been assassinated.
[4:56] Garfield stepped forward and gave a speech which concluded with these words, Fellow citizen, God reigns, and the government in Washington still lives. And I can tell you tonight that God still reigns.
[5:10] Our church still stands. We are going forward. But more than importantly, our God reigns. And we want to thank him for that. Not only does he, is he the king, but he is mighty.
[5:21] The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their waves. The Lord on high is mightier than the noise of many waters.
[5:31] Yea, then, the mighty waves of the sea. Life here is storm-tossed and filled with danger, but God is mightier than the waves. Recently as a church, we looked at Mark 4, 41.
[5:43] We're in the book of Luke. But a parallel passage in Mark 4, it says, And they feared exceedingly. And they said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
[5:55] They were on a boat. They thought they were going to be capsized. They thought they might die in the storm. They weren't holding on to the promises of the Old Testament. They weren't holding on to the promise that Jesus had told them, We are going to the other side.
[6:08] They didn't remember what it says here in Psalm 93. They didn't recognize that he is mightier than the sound of the waves. This year, maybe you went through something, and you thought the sound of the waves were going to just be all-consuming.
[6:25] You couldn't hear anything about your problems. It's what you thought about all the time. But we are reminded that our God is mightier than the sound of the waves, that his promises can make you rest.
[6:38] Sometime on Thursday afternoon, my nieces and nephew will get a picture of me like they do every year. I will fall asleep on the couch after eating turkey. All right? There's something about it that just puts you to sleep.
[6:51] That is a glorious nap. The Thanksgiving nap is a glorious nap. All right? But there's something better than the glorious nap of Thanksgiving. It is the rest that we can have, knowing that no matter what comes into your life, our God is mightier.
[7:06] And just whatever it is, he is mightier. And so some of you should turn to Satan tonight and call him a liar and get up here and tell about the truth about God's Word.
[7:17] Is that in the waves of life, you need to give a testimony, and you need to say, life has been hard, and the waves have been loud, but God has been mightier.
[7:29] Then lastly, verse 5, thy testimonies are very sure. God's Word, what he says, is infallible, inerrant, it will not change. And holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, forever.
[7:42] The psalmist is teaching you that God is not only mighty, he is not only sovereign, but that God, the king, acts with integrity and is faithful, righteous, and good.
[7:53] His Word never changed. Holiness is fitting for God's house. That's why he has made us a holy people. He says, be ye holy as I am holy. He has made us separate in this world.
[8:04] He has made us distinct, that we get to live lives differently because of what he has done. And he has set us apart for a specific purpose, and that is to worship him.
[8:14] What we are going to do now, as we share testimony, is the greatest of things that you will ever do with your life. It is good to give thanks unto the Lord, because the creator of the universe made you to do that.
[8:29] Have you ever wondered if you're investing your life well? Have you ever wondered if you're making the right choice? I mean, when you have two lines to go down, there's so many choices at Thanksgiving, right? Tonight, there's so many options. I didn't know if I was making the right choice.
[8:41] I can tell you that when I give praise unto God, I can be certain that I'm making the right choice for my life and the breath that God has given me. We're about to sing a song, and as we sing it as well with my soul.
[8:55] During the song, I'm going to ask you to line up on both sides here, and we'll go back and forth giving testimonies of our great God. But here's some of the words. When peace like a river attends my way, you almost have this picture of a slow-moving river and peace.
[9:10] But now the next image, when sorrows like a sea billows roll, whatever my lot, he has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul.
[9:23] Tonight, we can tell of all the things that are going on in this world, all the storms that other people are facing. By you standing up and giving testimony, you get to remind people that it is well with your soul.
[9:37] You can remind people that God is mightier than the problems they are facing. So giving a testimony unto the Lord is not only a wonderful thing for you, but it is a wonderful way to serve those of us here in the church.
[9:52] But why is it well with our soul? Because God reigns, because God is mighty, and because God is good. Heavenly Father, I ask that you would be with us now, Lord.
[10:03] You placed us here upon this earth, Lord. You created us in the garden with the purpose to worship you. And Lord, we want to return to that. We are created in your image, Lord, and we want to use our opportunity now to express our gratitude towards you.
[10:20] Lord, you reign. There was times throughout this year, Lord, we might have wondered, but we are confident that you reign, that you are a king in your majesty and in your strength, Lord.
[10:30] Lord, we are grateful that you are mightier than anything that we will ever face. Lord, inside of this room, I know there's people that are carrying burdens, that they may find refuge in this building, but when they leave, Lord, they will know that something is waiting for them, and the sea is very loud in their lives, Lord.
[10:47] The storm is very loud. I pray that tonight that they'll be reminded that you are mightier, that you are stronger than anything that they will ever face. And not only will you calm the storm, but you can also calm their heart.
[11:02] And then, Lord, lastly, I thank you that you are holy and that you are good. You're unwavering. You're the same today as you were yesterday and you've always been, Lord. There is nothing but perfectness and perfect light in you, Lord.
[11:15] There's no variable, no shadow. There's nothing in you, Lord, that isn't absolutely perfect. And Lord, we find our rest in you. And Lord, tonight as we sing, I pray that you will look down upon here and find a group of people that want to worship you and give thanks to you for who you are.
[11:32] In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.