Psalm 65 is a wonderful psalm to consider this morning on Thanksgiving as we've gathered to thank the Lord. I was reflecting on this this past week and thinking that every year this seems to become, culturally speaking, a greater struggle for people to celebrate these days like Thanksgiving. I read more than a few articles this week in major newspapers that have really come to despise this day that we call Thanksgiving. It seems to me that in some ways the reason that there is a despising of this day, that there's a frustration with this day in this country, has a lot to do with what people expect from the United States and what people expect from what they call the American dream. For some, that dream has obviously been better than others, and some people feel that they never really have had that dream. So, of course, then you would understand that there would be, in the midst of a divided culture and a divided people, a struggle over national days like this of Thanksgiving, divided now today by how people think about prosperity and what they consider to be the American dream and how well they have achieved that. Our culture will always struggle with these things. As times change and as things happen, you will see a more intense debate over these days and the divisions that happen with regard to these things. But this is where I thought today we have a great opportunity as people who believe in the Lord and believe the gospel of being somewhat distinct and somewhat different in the way that we celebrate what we call Thanksgiving from the way that the culture looks at it, a cultural celebration merely. Thanksgiving is what the Bible calls people to be thankful for and to constantly be thankful as a way of life. Remember, it is the characteristic of a darkened mind, Romans 1, to be unthankful. They were unthankful. That Thanksgiving is a way of life for the Christian and the Bible is calling us regardless of people's plight in a particular country or place or time to always be thankful to always be thankful god calls us to thanksgiving as a way of life and it's something a bit different from what our society is doing today psalm 65 i believe captures this beautifully it's very helpful today as you go home and you think about the lord's blessings and his care for you of some things that you can take and be thankful for this psalm outlines some beautiful ways in which you can be thankful and i believe there's one word in the psalm that really captures the heart of it and it's found in verse four you'll notice there it says um in verse four let me get there blessed is the one you choose and bring near to dwell in your courts. Here it is. We shall be satisfied. That's the word I want to focus on for a minute. Satisfied. We shall be satisfied. Satisfaction is such a beautiful word, isn't it? Satisfaction. It's more than here, of course, after what you're going to experience after Thanksgiving meal today, i promise i don't know there's anything in life that we desire more than satisfaction this is people's quest in life to be satisfied satisfaction of course is when one's expectations and desires are met and all the pleasure that then flows from that desires are met expectations are met. And then you get to enjoy life based upon the fulfillment of that desire. Satisfaction. The question, of course, is what is our desire? For if the desire is not right, we will be disappointed in the lack of pleasure and the things that happen and receive in this life. But if the desire is right, we receive the greatest happiness in this life. This is something that psalm 65 is is teaching us and helping us with and that's why it's incredibly helpful on this day that we call thanksgiving it was a psalm that was sung every year in israel at the annual harvest festival or the feast of tabernacles so very similar to what we're doing right now we're coming together we have this annual celebration that israel would have an annual celebration when all the crops would be brought in and they would spread the crops and they would have a great feast and a great day of celebration, and they would look over all of that abundance and that enrichment, and they would sing praise to the Lord. Psalm 65 is what would be one of those songs. This is how Israel lived. For if the, using the words of Habakkuk, if the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive tree and the fields yield no food, if the flocks be cut off from the fold and there's no herd in the stalls i want you to hold this thought for a minute how would they live how would they live what makes this psalm interesting is that if you look at the provisions that i just read from habakkuk those are the last things that are raised in this psalm if you look at verse one you'll see something that is very much on their mind as they're looking at crops which is interesting isn't it look what's said if you have your bibles open in verse one where it says praise is due to you oh god in zion and to you shall vows be performed oh you who hear prayer israel would um would come together at the feast of tabernacles and they would praise god and they would say praise waits for you in god for in zion oh God seeing over the years that um that God had provided for them that God had cared for them that God had loved them they would then make vows to him they would then make vows they would stand in awe of the Lord's care for them so think of how this begins praise waits for you I was interested to read Calvin who said that God is so gracious to his people that he supplies them every day with fresh opportunities to praise the idea being that when we get to go up to the house of the lord we have all of these reasons to constantly praise and to thank him there's always praise waiting to be given that's the emphasis there's praise waiting to be given their hearts were full of gratitude they were thankful they would make vows you'll notice in the psalm of course there were things about God that they would raise their voices in thanksgiving at the annual feast just like what we're doing today there were things that were on their hearts and on their minds they would praise him for his grace they would praise him for in this psalm his power and they would praise him for his goodness to them notice what verse 2 says to you all flesh shall come and then it describes the worst thing that could have ever been imagined by Israel what is it our iniquities often prevail against us hmm that's what he's that's what they're raising on the day of thanksgiving our iniquities often prevail against us this psalm is um is consumed with the wonder of having access to god this psalm is consumed with the wonder of getting access to him and what it would be like if they didn't. It's interesting that the great worry for Israel, the great concern for Israel on their Thanksgiving feast was the thought of being separated from God. What good would it be to have the life's best foods, the best homes, the best houses, the best of everything in this life if you didn't have him? What if every Israelite would take this to heart? This is what this psalm is doing. Notice how personal it is when iniquities prevail against me. And then it gives a beautiful answer right at the beginning of this psalm. For as for our sins, as for our transgressions, you will provide atonement for them. You see what was just said, that the greatest enjoyment in life, the greatest satisfaction in life, the greatest happiness in life is found in the ability to be able to be with the lord to come before him that the lord made that possible our sins have have barred us from him our sins have alienated us from him and they continue to come at us all the time that that's our struggle in this life but god did something wonderful for us god did something absolutely wonderful he made atonement for them and they knew he would make atonement for them and of course as we read this so many years later we get to read knowing the whole story we get to read looking back now what they looked forward to that all the old testament taught the whole sacrificial system taught when that day of atonement came it all pointed to jesus that he would die for us and the bible over and over is teaching us all about this great story all about this great day of atonement all about the sacrifice that the lord would make for us but i want you to notice here uh this morning that the psalm is uh specifically telling us something about proper thanksgiving that's why i chose it today that's why i wanted to reflect upon it with you today we're not just thankful that jesus died for us what do i mean not just that the psalm is describing something that i think we really have to take to heart the psalm is describing the full enjoyment that we achieve from that the full enjoyment the consequences that jesus died for us it's easy to say i don't know what well what is christianity jesus died for us jesus died for us jesus died for us but that's still over there what does it mean and what are the consequences of that for me if my sins rise up against me and that's where the psalm is so beautiful people try to satisfy their lives with everything don't they this time of year has always brought a strange i I just, it seems to me that every this time of year are the times I always get people calling. People calling. People needy. People wanting something. People needing money. People, it's, there's something about these days in our culture that bring great stress and great anxiety. It's always drawn it out every year. And you know it in your own families, by the way. It just is what goes on. Satisfaction is such a word here. Notice what Israel is realizing as they're coming to Thanksgiving. We're satisfied because of what the atonement has provided for us. Now, I get to enjoy the fullness of His presence. You'll notice I was thinking with the Wilgenbergs who, in Ed's death and Wilma and their mourning, And when we see loved ones die, it's such a challenging time. And I was thinking of what Psalm 16 says, which is a resurrection psalm, that in the Lord's presence are pleasures forevermore. That's how that psalm ends, Psalm 16. In the Lord's presence are pleasures forevermore. Israel is gripped by this. Israel is singing about this. They understood that the ability to come was something that God had accomplished for them through the atonement and he had decided to do for them. So the psalm then breaks into a moment of real praise where they sing out to the Lord, blessed is the man you choose and cause to approach you that he may dwell in your courts. That is the most blessed man in this life. The one you have brought there. The one who gets to enjoy you the way that he should. Grace has brought you there. When in your sovereign love and grace, Lord, you made the provision, then, when the sacrifice was made, then we were able to be satisfied. Then we were able to enjoy true satisfaction in this life. Then we were satisfied when we come to your house. How much of a struggle is it to get people to come? to the Lord's house and church today. It tells you they're not satisfied until they've found Him, until He has found them. You see, what are we really celebrating? That's what I'm having you think about together this morning. You're not merely just thankful for grace. Here's the remarkable thing about the psalm. I went through and counted how many times the Lord is mentioned in this psalm. And I may have miscounted a few, I don't know, but I counted 30. This is not a long psalm, is it? You, you, you, over and over and over. What's remarkable about this psalm is the psalm, the desire of the psalm is the Lord. That's what I love about it. The pleasure that flows from having Him as your God. that's what's satisfying Israel. That that's even possible. And that he's made it possible. The psalm is all saying to us that satisfaction is found in the Lord who provides. I think that's key to true thanksgiving. I don't think you could have true thanksgiving without that. This is why Asaph and all the psalms are saying, one thing I desire, that will I seek after, that I may dwell with the Lord all the days of my life. That I may behold His beauty in His temple, Psalm 27. Your sins have alienated you. And you're all on this quest to find satisfaction. I think of the woman at the well where Jesus comes to her and He offers her living water and she just doesn't get it. And He says, go call your husband. I have no husband. He says, yeah, you're right. You have no husband. You've had five and the one you now have is not your husband. You're trying to find satisfaction in all these men. But I'm offering you living water. I'm offering you me. This is the issue of your life. God in sheer love and grace provided atonement, giving you His Son so that you receive a lasting pleasure that comes from having fellowship with the father and his son jesus christ fellowship you take that for granted of course we all take this for granted sin will continue to rise up against you our sins prevail against rise up against us prevailing day by day we sing but you will show us mercy you often feel beaten and defeated but the most important reason for thanksgiving to abound in your hearts today is that god is smiling upon you in christ that you not only get to glorify him as we say what's your purpose in life to glorify him but thanksgiving flows out of a heart listen that is enjoying him enjoying him i think that strikes us a little bit we're running through life and we're not enjoying Him as we are, are we? This is what the psalm is calling us to. That when we begin to enjoy Him, the happiness that flows out of that, think of satisfaction, having our desire met and all the happiness that flows out of that, the happiness that flows out of that is met because the desire of your hearts has been met. The true one who truly satisfies. That's fundamentally different today from the culture celebration of thanksgiving you know satisfaction happiness in our culture are often tied merely to this dream that america has offered us and if we achieve the good american life and if you have hope in this country and done well and enjoyed its freedoms one could be thankful for what america has provided today right but then you're going to have a battle because others may not see it that way. But the Christian, the believer who enjoys any benefit in this life doesn't make the country the object of his praise. Doesn't make the country the object of his thanksgiving. The Christian thanks the good and perfect giver of every good and perfect gift because it's not the stuff that makes us thankful ultimately. It's what drives all true thanksgiving is a recognition before God that we have been satisfied with the joy of being reconciled to Him by His Son. And when that great need is met, when that great desire is met, it changes how you view everything else in life. Everything we enjoy now is motivated by the fact that He is with us. And I want to qualify that because the rest of this psalm is framing it in that way. What do I mean? Listen to verses 5-8. By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness. O God of our salvation, the hope, who? Him, of the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas. The one who by his strength established the mountain being girded with might. Who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the ways, the tumult of the peoples. So that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs. You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy. You visit the earth and water it. You greatly enrich it. The river of God is full of water. You provide their grain for so you have prepared it. Are you getting the point? He's the gift and the giver of everything that follows. Since you have this access, Lord, since we have this access, we know what you do for us. You answer our prayers. Whatever then, think of the perspective of this. The second section is all about his power. Whatever then happens in this life, you answer us for good because of this reconciliation. For you are our hope in this life. Whatever happens in this turbulent world, whenever we see this thing spinning into a mess and are perplexed and are confused, it's your power that keeps us. You are our hope. Hope is what drives us. That's why we get up. If hope is merely tied to a country, you don't get up. But you get up in the morning because He is your hope. Of the far off seas who established the mountains by His strength, you still the noise of the waves. What this is saying to us is in the midst of chaos, Israel, of all the problems that they were in among the nations, who hated them, all the uproar that was happening in the nations, the fears that accompanied this life, all the worry of a turbulent creation that we live in the midst of, they would pray and God would calm the nations. God would supply support for their troubles. He is their refuge and their strength. The psalm is celebrating that He Himself is our hope just as He Himself is our peace in Christ. That's what it's celebrating. It's the truth of Romans that if God is for us, who can be against us? So then the rubber really meets the road when everything falls apart, doesn't it? You understand how blessed you are to have this hope, to have Him. I've been at the deathbed of believers and I've been at the deathbed of non-believers and let me tell you, that is the moment of real truth for many people. The non-believer goes to his death with no perspective and alone. And I've seen it. The believer doesn't. The believer through it all has a perspective that's given to him because of reconciliation, because he has the joy, the blessed presence already of the Lord, that he's going to be with him and death can't touch him. We say this. think of um think of what we say in our wonderful psalm 23 the lord is my shepherd i shall not want yea though i walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will not fear why for you are with me you so we are able to say the one to whom the mountains bow down at his presence the one whom the turbulent seas cower before his glory the one who has the nations before him like a drop in a bucket is my god he's my hope what then do i have to fear he guards every aspect of my life he upholds every aspect of it by his power and finally then that leads us to be thankful for how he showers everything good that we get to enjoy in this life because it comes from him he's the fountain of it all listen to verses 9 through 13 you visit the earth and water it you greatly enrich it the river of god is full of water you provide their grain you have done for you have so prepared it you water its furrows abundantly settling its ridges softening it with showers and blessing its growth you crown the year with your bounty your wagon tracks i love this imagery your wagon tracks overflow with abundance the pastures of the wilderness overflow the hills gird themselves with joy. The metals clothe themselves with flocks. The valleys deck themselves with grain. They shout and sing together for joy. They would look at all the produce they brought in. And whenever they saw all the buds and all the fruit and all the harvest, they saw that as the Lord pouring down his blessing and giving life in the earth. Think of the struggle every year it was for Israel, to bring in their crops. Think of the remarkable act of care that in the course of their lives they could look over it and see that God had provided for them and that God had cared for them. Isn't it a marvel today that in the midst of all the stuff going on that discourages us, amidst of all the hardship that's going on, you've never ever in the course of your entire life, You've never come up to a thanksgiving service and said, we have no food this year. We have no ability to feed our families this year. We have been provided for. That's your reality, isn't it? When have you ever said you haven't had? He's flooded you with benefits and blessings. We have everything today because we have Him. But even if today we did come and didn't have food, does that change the message of this psalm not really though the fig tree should not blossom nor fruit beyond the vines though the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food though the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls yet i will rejoice in the lord i will take joy in the god of my salvation god the lord is my strength he makes my feet like the deers he makes me tread on the high places you hear it i have everything when i have him and he's promised i'm going to be with him forever he has satisfied you today early with his mercy and that leads the end of the psalm then for all the creation to break out in praise. Notice how that psalm ends in a shocking way. The meadows clothe themselves with flocks. The valleys deck themselves with grain. They shout and sing together for joy. That is what we're called to do. So I encourage you today when you go home to think about the God of grace forgiving and covering you in Jesus and giving you full access so that you get to enjoy Him in this life. Think of His continued preservation and providential care to keep you by His power so that He'll never lose you. And then think of how He has crowned you with all kinds of blessings. And thank Him today. He's filled your hearts with food and gladness. Most of all, He's given us Him. He's given us access. He's shown us His love. That's a satisfied life. That'll motivate true thanksgiving if you can say that today. That the Lord is our God and we are His people. That's how much He loves us. And that drives every bit of our lives to be thankful. Let's praise Him. Gracious Lord, thank You today that we get to enjoy You. That we have full access through the blood of Your Son. and have a restored relationship so that we are still praising and enjoying You. That's why we're here today. You are the giver of every good and perfect gift. And we acknowledge that today. We don't deserve any of it, but You solved the problem. And we are the most blessed people on the face of the earth, for You have chosen us. And You've brought us into Your presence by powerful grace so that now we are satisfied. We are a satisfied people. Make us thankful this day and thank you for all your rich blessings above and beyond all that we could ever ask or imagine. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.